It was an eventful week in fintech startup land, and we did our best to capture the highlights. Other items we are readingUnpacking the end of Luko’s solo journey in insurtech (TC+)The new banking as a service realityFintech unicorn Stax picks British finance exec Paulette Rowe as next bossPrimary Ventures hires Emily Man to be first fintech-focused partnerStripe brings tax product to platforms, taps AIMelio launches BNPL tool for SMBsAmerican Express partners with Skipify to enhance checkout processFar Homes new financing tool helps Mexico seem much closerPathward, Dash Solutions tackle disbursements with real-time paymentsImage Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunchFundings and M&ASeen on TechCrunchRapyd acquires a piece of PayU from Prosus for $610M to scale its fintech-as-a-service platformSouth Korea’s digital lender Toss Bank in advanced talks to close $154M funding at a valuation of $2. 1B\nPockit, an all-in-one financial services app for UK consumers, lands $10M\nTraction raises $6M seed as Nigeria\u2019s merchant acquiring space continues to heat up\nTradeshift raises $70M, launches financing JV with HSBC focused on B2B trade\nEmtech to advance its regtech and CBDC stack solutions with $4M led by Matrix Partners India\nAnd elsewhere\nMerger between Stavvy and Brace announced\nKnot API raises $10M from Amex, Plaid amid deposit war\nNovo secures $125m credit facility to provide working capital to small businesses through Novo Funding\nImage Credits: Bryce Durbin\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"