Hi there,

BNPL ain't dead.

Although Affirm's stock price is in the proverbial toilet (-80% this year) — and Klarna is also down bad — investor interest in “buy now, pay later” startups remains.

Of course, a lot of that activity is happening outside the USA (as the screenshot below from CB Insights illustrates).

And there are now new twists on BNPL — like BNPL for B2B purchases, BNPL for SaaS companies, BNPL for medical procedures, etc.

It will be interesting to see if these providers can build long-term sustainable BNPL companies or if BNPL will ultimately be a feature of a broader offering. 

If you want to dig into this search and see these company profiles or Connect directly with them, visit this link. Don’t have a CBI account? Sign up here for a free trial. 

Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it

project44 formed an exclusive partnership with Denmark-based GateHouse Logistics in 2018 and acquired the company 2 months later to enhance its visibility offerings.

Visa kicked off 5 of its 9 M&A deals since 2018 with an earlier partnership.

Walmart has been using Memomi’s digital measurement tech across its vision centers since 2019 and last week announced it will acquire the company.

Notice a trend?

Business Relationships (partner, vendor, client, licensor, licensee, etc.) are often a leading indicator of M&A.

Track this dataset with CB Insights, and while you are at it, check out our strategy breakdowns of where leading tech companies are headed. 

Going, going…gone

Meta is scaling back its crypto ambitions once again. The company announced that it will shut down its Novi crypto payments wallet pilot. 

This essentially marks the end of Meta’s Libra stablecoin experiment that started 3 years ago, which was scaled down after regulatory blowback. RIP.

The Novi pilot enabled crypto-based remittances using the Paxos stablecoin (USDP) for testers in the US and Guatemala.

Meta said it plans to use Novi’s wallet tech in future products, like its metaverse project, as it rolls out support for digital collectibles. 

Get up to speed on stablecoins here.

Breaking new paths

Online grocery shopping has grown considerably in the last few years. 

As shoppers increasingly move between digital and physical channels, grocery retailers like Kroger and Walmart are turning to tech solutions to connect the consumer experience. It’s all about driving customer retention (aka loyalty) and e-commerce profitability. 

From discovery to fulfillment, we map out 157 companies helping grocery leaders adapt to the omnichannel shopper journey here.

Monitor, vet, prioritize

P&C insurance leaders are looking to tap into new data to improve the first step of the claims process: detection and intake. 

Tech solutions are helping insurers react to claims more quickly and accurately — and more proactively provide risk management services to their customers. 

From auto telematics to geospatial analytics, we evaluate 10 claims & detection intake tech markets that P&C insurers should monitor, vet, and prioritize.

CNBC. Ryan Browne (@Ryan_Browne_) discusses what’s hot in fintech and references CB Insights data. 

Fortune. Jessica Mathews (@jessicakmathews) covers VC deal declines in Q2’22 in the Term Sheet newsletter and cites CB Insights data. 

Modern Retail. Gabriela Barkho (@gabrielabarkho) reports on wholesale distributor UNFI’s reach and mentions CBI research.