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M&A activity this week in the payments industry slowed down in comparison to last week’s flurry of new acquisition announcements. To start, Square (now Block) has made several announcements this week as they seek to expand their digital capabilities through M&A as well as internal development for the restaurant market. This week the company announced their acquisition of GoParrot, a digital ordering and marketing software platform for restaurants. This acquisition allows Square to offer their merchant base a customizable white-labeled app that will allow customers to place orders and track loyalty rewards. Square also revealed this week a new suite of restaurant solutions, including a mobile POS for tableside ordering and payment acceptance.
In other payments news, the POS and payments firm SpotOn announced it has raised $300 million in a Series F funding round. This new round of capital has now elevated the company’s valuation to $3.6 billion. This funding round follows SpotOn’s Series E from just eight months ago, in which the company raised $300 million for a valuation of $3.15 billion. Separately, the buy now, pay later provider, Klarna, is reportedly looking to raise new funds that could see its valuation fall to $30 billion. Klarna, which was last valued at $46 billion last year, is reportedly aiming to raise $1 billion from new and existing investors according to people familiar with the matter.