All eyes on buy now, pay later with latest CFPB probe

This is the web version of Term Sheet, a daily newsletter on the biggest deals and dealmakers. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.

The BPNL market has been booming in the last few years as shoppers increasingly decide to purchase their clothes, bikes, and gifts over a series of interest-free payments, rather than all up-front. 

This market is huge, and growing. McKinsey Consumer Lending Pools data pinpoints that fintech companies have already diverted some $8 billion to $10 billion in annual revenues away from banks, with more to come. “In our view, only a few banks are responding fast enough and boldly enough to compete,” according to McKinsey.

These payments fintechs have turned into some of the hottest companies in venture capital, raising a whopping $1.5 billion in 2020, up 42% from 2019, according to CB Insights. Klarna, a Stockholm-based deferred spending company, hit a titanic $45.6 billion valuation in June. Affirm, which went public in January, has a market cap of $27.9 billion.

But this growth has the CFPB perking its ears. Top of mind: Whether it’s simply too easy for consumers to rack up debt, whether these companies are adequately evaluating consumer protection laws, and then, of course, concerns over data.

It’s been challenging to keep up with all the regulatory action of late, between the SPAC criticism, then, earlier this week, a proposal to tighten insider trading rules, a share repurchase disclosure proposed update, etc. Looks like 2022 may be a busy year.

Speaking of 2022… Pitchbook published its 2022 private equity outlook, which is worth a meander. Analysts are forecasting that the largest funds will raise a whopping $250 billion in capital. That’s a lot of money.

And some more data… Let’s look at the growth in annual crypto deals from a16z. Happy HODLdays!

This is our last issue of Term Sheet for 2021. It’s been a pleasure being in your inboxes. I wish you the happiest—and healthiest—of holiday seasons.

Oh, and before I run off, I will continue to accept Crystal Ball predictions via this link through Tuesday if you’re still pondering what the next 12 months may bring.  If you’d like to help support this newsletter, please consider subscribing to Fortune. We are offering Term Sheet readers 50% off a subscription: Just follow this link and use the code TERMSHEET.

See you next year!

Jessica Mathews
Twitter: @jessicakmathews
Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com

VENTURE DEALS

– Clikalia, a Madrid-based digital real estate platform for home buying and selling, raised $518.5 million in Series B funding led by FifthWall and was joined by investors including Luxor Capital and Mouro Capital.

– Future Meat Technologies, an Israeli plant-based alternative meat producer, raised $347 million in Series B funding led by ADM Ventures and was joined by investors including Menora Mivtachim pension and insurance fund, S2G Ventures, Tyson New Ventures, Rich Products Ventures, and others.

– Sigma Computing, a San Francisco-based no-code cloud analytics solution, raised $300 million in Series C funding co-led by D1 Capital Partners and XN and was joined by existing investors including Sutter Hill Ventures, Altimeter Capital and Snowflake Ventures.

– Tasso, a Seattle, Wash.-based clinical-grade blood collection technology, raised $100 million in Series B funding led by RA Capital Management and was joined by investors including the D.E. Shaw group, Senvest, InCube, SVB Innovation Fund, Foresite Capital, Hambrecht Ducera Growth Ventures, J2V, Cedars-Sinai, and Merck GHIF.

– Verge Genomics, a San Francisco-based drug discovery platform, raised $98 million in Series B funding led by BlackRock and was joined by investors including Lilly, Merck GHI, Section 32, and Vulcan Capital.

– Well Dot, a Chapel Hill, N.C.-based consumer-focused health improvement platform, raised $70 million in Series B funding led by Valeas Capital Partners and was joined by investors including General Catalyst and Hellman & Friedman partners.

– Proxymity, a London-based investor communications platform connecting issuers, intermediaries, and investors, raised $31 million in Series B funding from BNY Mellon, Citi, Computershare, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Börse, J.P. Morgan, and State Street.

– Dedrone, a San Francisco-based smart airspace security platform, raised $30.5 million in Series C funding led by Axon and was joined by investors including Aqton Partners, Menlo Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Target Partners, TempoCap, and John Chambers.

– cove.tool, an Atlanta-based analyzing, drawing, engineering, and data connection platform for building design and construction, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Coatue and was joined by investors including FootPrint Coalition, Mucker Capital, Urban Us and Knoll Ventures. 

– Nodexus, a Hayward, Calif.-based automated live cell characterization and isolation technology development company, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by RA Capital Management and was joined by Section 32.

– Kenbi, a Berlin-based healthcare-at-home startup, raised €23.5 million ($26.5 million) in Series A funding led by Endeavour Vision and was joined by investors including Redalpine, Heartcore, Headline, Partech, and Amino Collective.

– Conta Simples, a Brazilian financial platform for business accounts, corporate cards, and spend management software to digital businesses, raised $24 million in Series A funding co-led by JAM Fund and Valor Capital and was joined by investors including Base10 Partners, Y Combinator, Quartz, and Big Bets.

– Brainomix, an Oxford-based medtech solutions company, raised £16M ($21.2 million) in series B funding co-led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Parkwalk Advisors, and was joined by investors including Tencent Holdings and Oxford University Innovation Fund.

– Ory, a Munich, Germany-based open-source cloud security software provider, raised $22.5 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners and was joined by investors including Balderton Capital and In-Q-Tel.

– Aztec Network, an internet of money security platform for Ethereum, raised $17 million in Series A funding led by Paradigm and was joined by investors including a_capital, Ethereal Ventures, Libertus Capital, Variant Fund, Nascent, IMToken, Scalar Capital, and others.

– Prellis Biologics, a 3D printing technology company for human tissue engineering, raised $14.5 million in Series B funding led by Celesta Capital and was joined by Khosla Ventures. 

– Bureau, a San Francisco-based API tool designer for mobile transactions, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Quona and was joined by investors including Commerce Ventures, Okta Identity, Sweat Equity Ventures, XYZ, Blume Ventures, EMVC, and Village Global.

– Sustaera, a Cary, N.C.-based direct air capture (DAC) carbon dioxide removal company, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Grantham Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities.

– JustiFi, a Minneapolis, Md.-based payment system developer, raised $6.6 million in seed funding co-led by Emergence Capital and Rally Ventures.

– Academy, a Manchester, U.K.-based training and acceleration program for tech students, raised $4 million in seed funding led by LocalGlobe and was joined by Emerge Education.

– Continual, a San Francisco-based customer churn prediction and inventory forecasting platform, raised $4 million in seed funding led by Amplify Partners and was joined by investors including Illuminate Ventures, Essence, Wayfinder, and Data Community Fund.

– Cultos, a community token and NFT platform for company customer engagement, raised $3.4 million in funding from investors including Gravity Ranch, Sparq Capital, and Jason Larian. 

– mammaly, a Cologne, Germany-based pet health startup, raised €3 million ($3.4 million) in pre-Series A funding from Food Tech and Five Seasons Ventures. 

– Incredible Dream, a San Francisco-based online game studio, raised $2 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst.

– Trustate, a Tampa, Fla.-based, estate settlement platform raised $1.8 million in seed funding led by Impression Ventures and was joined by Red Bike Capital and GingerBread Capital.  

PRIVATE EQUITY

– Oaktree Capital Management invested $315 million in Aspiration, a Marina del Rey, Calif-based sustainable banking platform, and InterPrivate III Financial Partners Inc., a SPAC, ahead of their merger.

– SK and a Korean private equity fund invested $50 million in Fulcrum BioEnergy, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based waste-to-fuels company.

– Main Street Capital invested $14.6 million in Johnson Downie, a Houston, Tex.-based lateral partner placements and consultancy services company for law firms.

– AmerCareRoyal, backed by HCI Equity Partners, acquired Ross & Wallace Paper Products, a Hammond, La.-based paper grocery and merchandise bags manufacturer. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Auxo Investment Partners acquired Ferrovia Services, an Auburn, Ala.-based provider of railroad and Department of Transportation (DoT) vegetation management services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– BV Investment Partners invested in Intentsify, a Franklin, Mass.-based marketing software that highlights buying signals. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Clearview Capital recapitalized Insight 2 Design, an Overland Park, Ks.-based portable lighting and camping equipment company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– FFL Partners acquired Optomi Professional Services, an Atlanta-based consulting and staff augmentation technology and domestic rural outsourcing services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Godspeed Capital acquired Varen Technologies, a Columbia, Md.-based cybersecurity, software, and intelligence solutions company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– ILC Dover, backed by New Mountain Capital, acquired KSE Scientific, a Durham, N.C.-based Water for Injection (WFI) and media and buffer solution producer.

– KKR agreed to acquire Yayoi, a Tokyo-based software developer, distributor, and support service provider for small- and medium-sized enterprises, from ORIX. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– ShieldCo, backed by PSG, acquired Traction Guest, a Canadian cloud-based visitor management and workforce security software company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Trilantic North America formed Greenbelt Capital Partners, a new Austin, Tex.-based private equity firm, from its energy team.

EXITS

– Motion Industries acquired Kaman Distribution Group, a Bloombfield, Conn.-based engineered product distributor, from a Littlejohn & Co. affiliate for $1.3 billion in cash.

–  Gen3 Marketing acquired OAK Digital, a New York-based digital marketing services firm, from Comvest Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– FAT Brands acquired Fazoli’s, a Lexingtony, Ky.-based quick-service Italian restaurant franchise, from Sentinel Capital Partners for $130 million. 

– Investcorp acquired RESA Power, a Houston, Tex.-based electric power services provider, from Blue Sea Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER

– BICO acquired Biosero, a San Diego-based lab automation software company, for $165 million. 

– Autodesk agreed to acquire ProEst, a San Diego-based construction estimation provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Narvar agreed to acquire Lumi, a Los Angeles-based packaging and print marketplace. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Stokke acquired Babyzen, a French lightweight stroller brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.

IPOS 

– Cohesity, a San Jose, Calif.-based data-management software company, is working with bankers for a 2022 IPO, according to Bloomberg. A deal could value the company between $5-10 billion. SoftBank backs the firm.

– GoTo Group, a Jakarta-based online store management tech company, hired banks for an IPO in Indonesia that could raise around $1 billion, according to Bloomberg.

– Gopuff, a Philadelphia-based rapid delivery platform, is in talks for a 2022 IPO, per Bloomberg. SoftBank backs the firm.

– Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass.-based amyotrophic lateral sclerosis therapy development company, filed for an IPO. Morningside, ALS Investment Fund, and Viking Global back the firm.

SPAC

– Rezolve, a London-based mobile payment platform, agreed to go public via a merger with Armada Acquisition Corp I., a SPAC. A deal values the company at about $2 billion.

– TeleSign, a Los Angeles-based customer engagement and fraud prevention platform, agreed to go public via a merger with North Atlantic Acquisition Corp., a SPAC. A deal values the firm at $1.3 billion. 

F+Fs

– Anthemis Group, a London-based venture capital firm, raised $700 million for multiple funds.

– Omega Funds, a Boston-based healthcare venture capital firm, raised $650 million for its seventh fund.

– Blue Delta Capital Partners, a Tysons, Va.-based venture capital firm, raised $215 million for a third fund.

PEOPLE

– Energize Ventures, a Chicago-based venture capital firm, promoted Tyler Lancaster to partner, Kevin Stevens to partner, Mark Tomasovic to principal, and Eileen Waris to principal.