FinTech IPO Index Up 3.8% as Lemonade Surges on UK Expansion

Earnings season has yet to start making headlines and moving stocks in the FinTech IPO Index, but the overall group was up 3.8% through the week, and platforms were the prime movers.

Lemonade shares surged more than 21%.

In a Tuesday (July 16) announcement, Lemonade said that it had launched buildings and contents insurance in the United Kingdom, thus expanding the company’s home insurance offerings.

Since launching in the U.K. in October 2022 and becoming a PRA-licensed carrier, the U.K. has quickly become one of Lemonade’s fastest-growing markets. The launch of buildings and contents insurance, with the ongoing partnership of established insurer Aviva, will bolster Lemonade’s continued growth, the companies said.

In terms of the offering itself, homeowners can get instantly covered through the Lemonade app or online starting from 14 pounds (about $18) a month. Home emergency and accidental damage are also part of the offerings. Lemonade is licensed and supervised by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB). Lemonade operates in the U.K. through its U.K. branch establishment, authorized by the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Significant Gains for Other Platforms, Too

Katapult vaulted ahead by 15%. The company entered into a strategic partnership with PayTomorrow, a waterfall financing platform. Through this partnership, PayTomorrow has integrated Katapult’s lease-to-own (LTO) option into PayTomorrow’s suite of financial products.

According to the announcement, the integration embeds Katapult’s LTO within PayTomorrow’s platform. PayTomorrow’s platform provides merchants with a diverse range of payment options that serve prime, near prime and nonprime consumer online and offline. Merchants gain access to new shoppers who can drive incremental sales, the companies said. There are also higher conversion rates and lower cart abandonment, and no interchange costs accrue to the merchant-related to transactions.

Upstart shares gathered 5.6%. In a July 10 press release, Texans Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in Texas with more than 123,000 members and $2.2 billion in assets, announced their partnership with Upstart to offer personal loans to consumers.

Texans Credit Union started lending as a partner on the Upstart Referral Network in August, the companies said. With the Upstart Referral Network, qualified personal loan applicants on Upstart.com who meet Texans Credit Union’s credit policies will receive tailored offers as they transition into a Texans Credit Union-branded experience to complete the online member application, per the release.

Affirm announced a partnership with RONA inc., a Canadian home improvement retailers operating and servicing some 425 corporate and affiliated stores. Now, eligible shoppers can use Affirm to purchase their home improvement necessities online.

The companies said that by selecting Affirm at checkout on rona.ca, approved RONA customers can split eligible purchases into biweekly or monthly payments for terms up to 12 months.

Affirm shares were 4.2% higher through the past five sessions.

Huize Holding shares lost 2.8%.

The company said this week it has received a notification letter Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market confirming the Huize has regained compliance with listing rules tied to the  “Minimum Bid Price Requirement”).  The company’s ADS have been at $1.00 per share or greater for 20 consecutive business days, from June 13 to July 12, and thus the company is again in compliance.