Connect with us

Tech

ZayZoon, which lends employees money for a fee, raises $34.5M

Published

12 months ago

on


ZayZoon, a fintech firm that got its start charging employees $5 to get paid sooner, has raised $34.5 million in a Series B round co-led by Framework and EDC with participation from ATB Financial.

CEO Darcy Tuer says that the funds, which bring ZayZoon’s total raised to $53 million, will be put toward “doubling down” on ZayZoon’s growth and accelerating the development of new features on its product roadmap.

“ZayZoon is on a mission to save 10 million employees 10 billion dollars. We will achieve that with a relentless focus on helping employees that are struggling to make ends meet,” Tuer told TechCrunch in an email interview. “At the same time, small- and mid-sized businesses are faced with their own financial challenges while struggling to recruit talent. ZayZoon helps employers recruit and reduce turnover while keeping employees away from predatory loans and unnecessary bank fees.”

Tuer co-founded Calgary-based ZayZoon with Tate Hackert and Jamie Ha in 2014. Tuer, a serial entrepreneur, came on to scale Hackert’s initial proof of concept, and Tuer and Hackert met Ha, an investment banker, at a local startup event that ZayZoon was participating in.

Hackert had the idea for the business several years before meeting Tuer and Ha. After making money working on a commercial fishing rig, Hackert — then 16 years old — lent cash through Craigslist and the Canadian classified ads site Kijiji to help employees bridge the gaps between paychecks.

In the nearly 10 years since its founding, Tuer claims that ZayZoon has become one of the fastest-growing apps of its kind, acquiring more than 10,000 business customers across the U.S. and partnering with more than 160 payroll providers.

“ZayZoon provides employees with access to their earned wages whenever they need them, instead of having to wait until payday,” Tuer said. “This helps them stay away from payday loans or deal with unnecessary bank fees.”

ZayZoon falls into the category of fintechs known as earned wage access (EWA), which largely operate on the same premise. For a fee — in ZayZoon’s case, $5 — employees can request a portion of their regular paycheck early. ZayZoon lets employees withdraw a minimum of $20 and a maximum of $200 each pay period.

ZayZoon and other EWA companies pitch their products as a way to help customers avoid high-interest loans and credit cards. But the reality is often less rosy than their marketing suggests.

ZayZoon

Image Credits: ZayZoon

Some consumer groups argue that EWA programs like ZayZoon’s should be classified as loans under the U.S. Truth in Lending Act, which provides protections such as requiring lenders to give advance notice before increasing certain charges. Users aren’t under a legal obligation to repay ZayZoon and ZayZoon won’t take action to collect payments.

ZayZoon offers a no-fee payout option. However, it requires employees to accept payments in the form of gifts cards for retail partners such as CVS and Target and to agree to share their personal information, including their name, date of birth, gender and address, for advertising purposes. (Workers can email ZayZoon’s customer support to request that their data be deleted, but there isn’t an in-app mechanism to make this easy.)

A $5 per-pay-period fee might not sound like very much. But it can add up, especially for a low-income worker — and the consequences can be disastrous. Just $100 fewer in savings can make families more likely to pursue predatory lending and forgo utility bill payments, one 2020 study showed. And an estimated one in five families in the U.S. has less than two weeks of liquid savings.

ZayZoon, like its rivals Refyne, Branch, DailyPay and Even, claim that they’re a retention tool for businesses. But it remains unclear whether EWA programs are a net positive for companies. Taking Walmart as an example, the retail giant had high hopes of boosting retention by giving employees access to earned wages early. Instead, it found that employees using the early wage access service tended to quit faster.

EWA usage is on the rise, regardless. A 2021 report from research firm Aite-Novarica estimated that workers accessed $9.5 billion via EWA apps in 2020, up from $6.3 billion in 2019 and $3.2 billion in 2018.

As their popularity among workers — particularly those with lower credit scores — grows, regulators are beginning to step in. In June, Nevada enacted a law that requires early wage access providers to be audited and examined by the state. The following month, Missouri passed a law that requires EWA companies to register with the state, pay a $1,000 registration fee and retain payment records for a minimum of two years.

ZayZoon, which is one of the larger EWA startups with 102 employees, isn’t letting the increased scrutiny get in the way of expansion.

“We are in regular discussions with the institutional investment community and decided to execute on an opportunistic raise,” Tuer said. “Strengthening our balance sheet will help us cement ZayZoon’s place as a category leader.”



Source link

Post Views: 250
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tech

‘Polaris Dawn Spacewalk Was Fake’: Conspiracy Theorists Crawl Out After Historic Day

Published

5 hours ago

on

September 14, 2024

By



Conspiracy theorists have crawled out again confidently claiming that the world’s first private spacewalk performed yesterday was ‘fake.’ Two members of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission stepped out of the Dragon spacecraft on September 12, marking the first instance of astronauts getting exposed to space in a commercial mission.

But the historic event seems indigestible to some who are nitpicking about the aspects of the spacewalk.

“SpaceX Polaris Dawn Spacewalk… Sorry, but it just looks so fake, maybe it just me,” said a user on X posting images of the spacewalk.

The objective was to test the mobility of the spacesuits when they are pressurised. Mission commander Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis tested the suit for about ten minutes each before reentering the spacecraft.

“If you wanna start another stupid conspiracy you should watch the #SpaceEx space walk right now. It looks absolutely fake the way that person is moving. The 1969 footage looks more convincing,” wrote another user.

The focus point of the space deniers was the stiff movement of the astronauts when they floated out of the Dragon spacecraft. But this is what’s supposed to happen when the spacesuit is pressurised against the vacuum of space. The spacesuit itself becomes a spacecraft that protects the lives of astronauts.

ALSO SEE: SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn Astronauts Complete Historic First Private Spacewalk; Videos Released

As SpaceX CEO Elon Musk himself posted, “All that stands between you and the nothingness of deep space vacuum is that suit.”

Before astronauts step out for a spacewalk, their suits are pressurised like here on Earth to save them from going unconscious and keeping their body fluids from getting boiled. But if the spacesuits save their lives, they also limit mobility – which SpaceX wanted to see how much.

But many believe the spacewalk was fake based on the visuals. “I’m not a space denier but ngl that Dragon spacewalk looked fake af #polarisdawn (sic),” a person posted on X.

Some even brought up the Moon landings in the Apollo missions which, according to space deniers, never happened.

“Polaris Dawn & Dragon some supposed 1,400km out above Earth. This is the furthest since the fake NASA Apollo Missions over 50 years ago now,” posted a user with a video of Dragon spacecraft in the highest Earth orbit after 1972. Another shared a video of the Polaris Dawn crew inside the Dragon spacecraft saying, “If you believe they are in space, you are 100% retarded.”

Unfortunately, this might not be the end of it but we believers hope that the historic spacewalk was the first of many.

Polaris Dawn is a five-day mission which launched on September 10 with four astronauts. Piloted by Scott Poteet, the Dragon spacecraft took two women – Gillis and Anna Menon – farthest in space. It is also the highest Earth-orbit mission ever.

ALSO SEE: SpaceX Shares First Views Of Earth As Polaris Dawn Reaches Highest Orbit In 50 Years

(Image: SpaceX)





Source link

Post Views: 1
Continue Reading

Tech

NASA Postpones Mars Mission To 2025 As Jeff Bezos’s Rocket Isn’t Ready To Launch

Published

10 hours ago

on

September 14, 2024

By



NASA is no longer launching the ESCAPADE mission to Mars this year. The agency announced that it is letting go of the launch opportunity in October as Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket might not be ready to take off in its inaugural flight.

The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers or ESCAPADE is a twin-spacecraft mission to explore the Martian atmosphere and magnetosphere. With October is not an option anymore, the next opportunity is Spring 2025.

In a statement, NASA said that the decision was made to avoid challenges and cost associated with draining fuel from the two orbiters in case the mission was delayed in October. The probes will be fuelled with hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide to be used during the course of their mission.

The launch window to Mars, which significantly reduces the travel time to the red planet, opens this fall. While NASA announced it is targeting Spring of next year for ESCAPADE’s launch, the next such window does not open for another two years.

“This is an important mission for NASA, and it’s critical we have sufficient margin in our prelaunch work to ensure we are ready to fly a tight planetary window,” said Bradley Smith, NASA’s Launch Services Office director, in a statement.

ALSO SEE: NASA’s Dual-Orbiter Mars Mission Almost Ready For October Launch; All About It

Blue Origin acknowledged the delay saying, “We’re supportive of NASA’s decision to target the ESCAPADE mission for no earlier than spring 2025 and look forward to the flight.”

The Jeff Bezos-owned company is preparing the reusable New Glenn rocket for its debut mission. Named after John Glenn, the first American in space, the launch vehicle stands 320 feet tall and can carry 13 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit and 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit. According to Blue Origin, it is aiming to reuse the first stage of the rocket 25 times.

Meanwhile, Blue Origin is now preparing to launch the Blue Ring technology. The mission has been moved up from December this year to November after ESCAPADE’s delay.

ALSO SEE: Liquid Water Discovered On Mars? NASA Lander Unveils Explosive Evidence

(Image: NASA/BlueOrigin)





Source link

Post Views: 2
Continue Reading

Tech

Massive Landslide In Greenland Triggered Tsunami And Shook Earth For Nine Days

Published

15 hours ago

on

September 14, 2024

By



A new study has revealed that a massive landslide in Greenland, triggered by glacier melting due to climate change, caused mysterious vibrations that spread across the planet for nine consecutive days. This rare event occurred in September 2023 when a 1.2-kilometre-high mountain peak in an East Greenland fjord collapsed, creating a tsunami around 200 metres high.

The tsunami rocked the fjord, a narrow sea inlet surrounded by steep cliffs, sending seismic shocks through Earth’s crust. These unusual vibrations puzzled scientists worldwide. The event reportedly caused nearly $2,00,000 worth of damage to infrastructure at an unoccupied research station on Ella Island in eastern Greenland.

According to researchers, the landslide was caused by the melting of a glacier at the base of the mountain. As the glacier thinned, it became unable to support the rock face above, leading to the collapse. This glacier melting is largely attributed to climate change.

The international research team, which included scientists from University College London (UCL), explained the broader implications of the event. “Our findings highlight how climate change is causing cascading, hazardous feedbacks between the cryosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere,” the authors wrote in their study, published in Science.

ALSO SEE: Giant Viruses Discovered For The First Time In Greenland, They Could Stop Ice Melting

Seismologist Stephen Hicks, co-author of the study from UCL, noted the unprecedented nature of the event. “When I first saw the seismic signal, I was completely baffled,” he said. “We know seismometers can record a variety of surface activities, but never before have we seen a seismic wave that lasted so long and travelled globally with such a unique oscillation pattern.”

He told CNN that the sound wasn’t what “you might expect with an earthquake, but more of a monotonous hum.”

To understand this phenomenon, the researchers used mathematical models to recreate the landslide and the fjord’s unique shape. This helped explain how the water could have continued to “sloshing” back and forth for nine days. By combining data from seismic recordings, satellite images, and field measurements, the team was able to closely match the height of the real tsunami and the slow-moving cycles of the wave.

ALSO SEE: Greenland And Antarctica Are Melting Six Times Faster Than In The 1990s

The study involved 68 scientists from 41 research institutions, highlighting the importance of collaboration in solving such complex puzzles. Their analysis showed that the tsunami wave moved back and forth every 90 seconds, matching the seismic recordings of vibrations that traveled through the Earth’s crust.

With climate crisis worsening, researchers warned that we could see more large and destructive landslides in the future with the melting of Earth’s polar regions. Seismologist Alice Gabriel from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a co-author of the study, stressed that “climate change is shifting what is typical on Earth, and it can set unusual events into motion.”



Source link

Post Views: 3
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2023 Dailycrunch. & Managed by Shade Marketing & PR Agency