Canadian Fintech: Why TD is getting out of payments 💸

Good morning! Welcome back to the Canadian Fintech Newsletter, an industry roundup for founders, operators and investors.

Every Monday we break down the hottest topics in the industry in under 3 minutes.

If you’re a paid subscriber, you also get access to the Canadian Fintech Database - a detailed list of every fintech acquisition in Canada.

Was this forwarded to you? Become one of our 12,965 subscribers by clicking below.

💰 Funding

• xTAO, a crypto infrastructure firm built on the Bittensor network, raised $23m going public on the TSXV.

  • xTAO is founded by the founder of Wonderfi, a crypto exchange recently acquired by Robinhood for $250m.

• OpenSesame, a Toronto based company that helps clients embed AI agents into their existing enterprise software, raised USD $1m from a16z.

🤝 M&A

• TD is selling its merchant payment business to Fiserv.

  • TD was the last major Canadian bank still operating its merchant processing unit:

    • RBC & BMO: co-own Moneris

    • CIBC: outsources to Global Payments

    • Scotiabank: outsources to JP Morgan

  • Why? Payment processing is a competitive, low margin, tech intensive business. Outsourcing allows TD to focus on banking while earning a referral fee on payments and retaining the client relationship.

🚀 Product

• goConfirm, an anti-scam app that allows people to safely buy & sell things online from strangers (via Facebook, Whatsapp, Reddit, etc.) launched free payment loss protection up to USD $250.

• Blossom, an app for retail investors to share stock tips, is live in 32 countries and has had 4x revenue in the last year to nearly $1m.

• Addy, a fractional real estate investment platform connecting issuers and investors is launching a b2b offering.

  • Exempt Market Dealers will be able to use Addy to run transactions for their own investors (handle KYC, money transfers, etc.)

  • Addy now joins a list of Canadian fintechs providing capital markets software for whitelabel private market investing: DealMaker & Capiche (private placements), Vessel & Brio (venture capital GP investing).

Every month I invest $250k in an early stage Canadian fintech.

• Raising money? Fill out this form

• Want to invest? Fill out this form

Want to get in front of 12,965 fintech decision makers? Reply to this email to become a sponsor.

Have a great week! See ya 👋

-Tal Schwartz