Ramp Raises Another $300MM; Kraken Plots IPO; Intuit’s $100MM OpenAI Deal

Initial jobless claims jump. Ramp raises another $300MM. Kraken plans to IPO. Klarna inks new forward flow deal. MSUFCU acquires Tandem. Klarna CEO warns on AI investments. Intuit reaches $100MM deal with OpenAI.

The difference between Cross River and other BaaS partners? We have the tech stack to support fintechs through all growth stages, so they evolve without disruption. Read about our partnership with Best Egg and how it's stood the test of time over the last 12 years.

New here? Subscribe here to get our newsletter each Sunday. For even more updates, follow us on LinkedIn.

Jobless Claims Jump

Initial jobless claims jumped last month, hitting 232,000 for the week ending October 18th, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That’s up from the 219,000 applications for the week ending September 20th and higher than analysts had expected. Continuing claims edged up to 1.957MM. There are still gaps in BLS’ data owing to the lingering impacts of the government shutdown. Meanwhile, data from payroll provider ADP shows that U.S. employers were eliminating about 2,500 jobs per week in October. Survey data show that Americans are growing increasingly concerned about employment stability, with a recent Harris poll showing 55% of workers are worried about losing their job.

Given that backdrop, it’s less surprising that employers are seeing an uptick in applications for traditionally less desirable types of work because of low pay, inconsistent hours, or unpleasant conditions. As of August, 26% of those seeking work had been unemployed for more than six months, leading some to consider types of roles they previously would not have.

Ramp Raises Another $300MM

No, it’s not deja vu. Just months ago, Ramp announced it had raised a $500MM Series E-2, which valued the company at $22.5Bn. Now, the company is announcing it has raised another $300MM, in a round led by Lightspeed, that values the company at an eye-watering $32Bn. That’s an astounding ascent from the $7.65Bn Ramp was valued at in its $150MM Series D back in April 2024. While Ramp seems to be benefiting from leaning into an AI narrative, the company’s bread and butter products remain expense management and corporate cards. The company said last month that it has surpassed $1Bn in annualized revenue.

Kraken Confidentially Files For IPO

Crypto exchange Kraken says it has confidentially filed for an IPO. That news comes on the heels of Kraken’s announcement last week that Citadel Securities had made a $200MM strategic investment in the company, valuing the exchange at $20Bn. The valuation was a $5Bn jump from the $15Bn it was valued at when it raised $600MM this September.

Klarna Reaches $6.5Bn Loan Deal and CEO Warns on AI Spending

Elliott Investment Management has reached a deal to buy as much as $6.5Bn in Klarna’s longer-term installment loans, the companies announced last week. The transaction is structured as a forward flow facility, in which Elliot will buy new loans as Klarna originates them. The facility size is $1Bn, but Klarna expects the agreement to facilitate about $6.5Bn in loans over its two-year term. The agreement is the latest the buy now pay later provider has entered into. Klarna reached a similar forward flow agreement with Nelnet and sold £30Bn worth of loans to a subsidiary of Elliot last year.

The additional financing will enable Klarna to continue to scale its longer-term interest-bearing “Fair Financing” product. Klarna CFO Niclas Neglén commented on the deal, telling Bloomberg, “This is another major step in our US growth journey. This agreement lets us reach even more Americans who are moving on from traditional credit and choosing fairer ways to pay.”

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski is ringing the alarm bell about what many are describing as a bubble in the AI industry. Siemiatkowski lauded the potential for AI to dramatically reduce the need for human workers at Klarna, before changing course, saying customers prefer human interaction for customer service issues vs. using AI-powered chatbots. Siemiatkowski is also an investor in prominent AI companies, including OpenAI, Perplexity, xAI, and Cerebras, through his family office Flat Capital. Siemiatkowski told the FT he is “nervous” about the volume of investments into AI infrastructure. Siemiatkowski told the paper, “I think [OpenAI] can be very successful as a company but at the same time I’m very nervous about the size of these investments in these data centers. That’s the particular thing that I am concerned about.”

MSUFCU Acquires Tandem

Tandem, a budgeting app for couples, has been acquired by Reseda Group, a credit union service organization owned by the Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. Reseda was an early investor in Tandem. Instead of the traditional joint bank account, Tandem is a budgeting app that users can connect their existing accounts to, and a joint account is not required to use the app. Acquiring Tandem will enhance MSUFCU’s strategy of offering a full suite of “family” banking products.

April Clobes, president and CEO of both Reseda Group and MSUFCU, told American Banker, “Tandem has been a valuable part of the Reseda Group ecosystem for several years, providing Gen Z and millennial couples with a digital solution for navigating their first money milestones and ultimately building their financial futures. With Tandem now a part of our portfolio of products, we are taking our partnership of innovation to the next level.”

Intuit Strikes $100MM Deal with OpenAI

Intuit, parent company to household names that include Turbotax, Credit Karma, and Quickbooks, reached an agreement to pay OpenAI more than $100MM per year to access its models. Intuit aims to integrate OpenAI’s large language models within its internal AI platform, dubbed GenOS. The capabilities will be used across Intuit’s range of products and services. The firms are also working to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot with Intuit’s offerings. This would, for example, allow a user to link ChatGPT to their Turbotax account, enabling ChatGPT to guide the user through tasks or answer questions based on the underlying tax filings.