Payroll Connectivity Firm Pinwheel Raises $50M

payroll

Payroll connectivity API firm Pinwheel says it’s preparing to expand after raising $50 million in a Series B funding round.

The New York-based firm announced the funding in a news release Tuesday (Jan. 18), saying it would use the money to triple its headcount to 180 workers, focusing on engineering roles. This will allow Pinwheel to continue work on its early wage access (EWA) efforts and explore new areas like tax preparation.

Pinwheel says its mission is “to help create a fairer financial system by providing an API that makes it easy for businesses to securely connect payroll accounts to their applications with consumer permission.”

Read also: MX Joins Forces with Pinwheel on Payroll Connectivity, Income Verification

This can help financial institutions provide equal access to services for everyone, including the bulk of Americans considered “financially unhealthy,” the firm said.

Among the tools offered by Pinwheel is real-time data about income that can be used to enable things like EWA, in which a person can get money as soon as they’ve earned in instead of having to wait for a paycheck.

“I’m particularly passionate about addressing the vicious cycle of paycheck-to-paycheck-living that plagues almost 80% of people in the United States, by developing products that will power EWA and dynamic lending opportunities,” said Kurtis Lin, co-founder and CEO of Pinwheel.

“I look forward to a world where people are proactively offered new terms of payment for a personal loan should they lose their job, or earlier access to their paycheck in a time of crisis instead of facing payday loan sharks.”

The funding round was led GGV Capital, along with returning investors Coatue, First Round Capital, and Upfront Ventures, plus new investors that included AMEX Ventures, Indeed, Kraken Ventures and Franklin Templeton.

Last year, Pinwheel collaborated with the financial data platform MX to offer customs expanded coverage of income verification, improved financial guidance and better underwriting models for stronger lending decisions.


An Ode to Malls as Gen Z Craves IRL Experiences

three teenagers at mall

“The currency of now” takes on a decidedly different form in this poem about the mall’s resurgence. It celebrates the brick-and-mortar comeback fueled by Gen Z’s desire for IRL (in real life) connections and the evolving role of physical space in a digitally-driven world. Join us, with a little help from AI, as we examine this retail revolution, where the “currency” of cool reigns supreme.

Ode to the Mall’s Second Act
A rhyme for the retail renaissance

The tinsel’s gone, the carols now hushed,
New Year’s returns — cashiers mildly crushed.
A sea of sweatpants, gift cards in hand,
The mall’s a vibe unplanned.

But fear not, dear shopper, the story’s not bleak —
The mall’s plotting comebacks, not just peak weak week.

Gen Z’s in the food court, TikTokking their fries,
While swiping through Depop for vintage thigh-highs.

“IRL’s better!” they might say, “No porch pirates, no wait—
Just tag me @Aritzia, I’ll meet you at eight!”
They crave neon selfies, not screens’ pixelated glow,
So malls built a skatepark where a Sears used to go.

Shopify’s merchants now hawk leather and lace
In pop-ups by Simon — no “online-only” space.
Leap powers the kiosks, the QR code deals,
As D2C brands test if foot traffic feels.

Where Macy’s once stood, now micro-lofts bloom:
“Live above Lululemon!” they might chirp. “Bath bombs in every room!”
A dentist, a daycare, a co-working hub —
The mall’s now a Swiss Army knife, scrubbed of ’80s dud.

Mall of America’s got waterslides looping its floors,
While American Dream’s got a ski slope indoors.
“Why choose between Zara and ziplines?” they could grin,
As Nordstrom becomes Saks Fifth within.

Phones glow like fireflies in this retail ballet:
Price checks on Google, then “U up?” on Tinder (hey).

They scan, they compare, they Instagram the ‘fit—
But still buy the jeans ’cause the vibe’s so legit.

So here’s to the mall — that phoenix of bricks!
No longer a relic of cassette tape tricks.
With Gen Z as hypebeast and Shopify’s might,
It’s part TikTok backdrop, part urbanist’s right.

The future’s bright, chaotic, a bit over-leased …
But hey — at least parking’s finally decreased.