Failure Analysis
Kevin. died from a fatal combination of premature market timing, consumer behavior inertia, and the inability to solve the two-sided marketplace cold-start problem. The...
Kevin. \Lithuania
Kevin. was a European open banking infrastructure provider that aimed to become the 'Plaid of Europe' by enabling account-to-account (A2A) payments and financial data aggregation through PSD2 APIs. Founded in 2018 in Lithuania—a fintech-friendly jurisdiction with progressive regulatory frameworks—Kevin. capitalized on the EU's Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which mandated banks to open their APIs to third-party providers. The value proposition was compelling: bypass card networks (Visa/Mastercard) entirely, reduce merchant payment processing fees from 1.5-3% to 0.3-0.8%, eliminate chargebacks, and provide instant settlement. For consumers, A2A payments promised faster checkouts and enhanced security by authenticating directly with their bank. Kevin. raised $77M from top-tier VCs (Accel, Eurazeo, Speedinvest) and positioned itself as infrastructure for e-commerce, marketplaces, and SaaS platforms across Europe. The 'why now' was perfect: PSD2 compliance deadlines (2019-2021), COVID-driven e-commerce growth, and merchant frustration with card network oligopolies. Kevin. built SDKs, payment widgets, and a developer-friendly API to abstract the complexity of integrating with 2,500+ European banks. However, despite regulatory tailwinds and significant capital, Kevin. failed to achieve the network effects and merchant adoption necessary to sustain operations, shutting down in 2024 after six years.
Discover the reason behind the shutdown and the market before & today
Market Analysis
The European payments landscape in 2024 is dramatically different from 2018. Open banking has moved from regulatory experiment to mainstream infrastructure: the UK has...
Startup Learnings
Infrastructure plays need demand generation, not just supply. Kevin. built excellent APIs but had no consumer-facing wedge to drive transaction volume. Lesson: If you're...
Market Potential
The European payments market is massive: €240B+ in annual card processing fees, with e-commerce growing 10%+ YoY. PSD2 created a regulatory wedge to disrupt...
Difficulty
Building open banking infrastructure in 2018 required navigating 27+ EU regulatory regimes, integrating with thousands of inconsistent bank APIs (many poorly documented or unreliable),...
Scalability
A2A payment infrastructure has excellent unit economics in theory: near-zero marginal cost per transaction once bank integrations are live, software-driven scaling, and take-rate models...
Rebuild & monetization strategy: Resurrect the company
Execution Plan
Phase 2
Step 2 - AI Routing Layer (Months 4-6): Launch the AI payment router. Train a model on transaction data (tenant payment history, time of month, amount) to predict the best payment method. Example: If a tenant has paid via A2A 3 months in a row, auto-select A2A and offer a $10 discount. If a tenant is late, route via card for instant settlement. Use Claude API to generate natural language payment reminders ('Hey Sarah, rent is due tomorrow—pay via bank transfer and save $15'). Goal: Increase A2A adoption to 75% and reduce landlord support tickets by 40%.
Phase 3
Step 3 - Full-Stack SaaS Platform (Months 7-12): Build a standalone landlord dashboard (Next.js + Supabase) so Cascade can operate independently of property management software. Add features: automated late fee calculation, tenant payment plans, rent reporting to credit bureaus (monetization: $2/tenant/month). Launch a tenant mobile app (React Native) with rent reminders, payment history, and rewards for on-time A2A payments (e.g., 'Pay on time 6 months in a row, get $50 Amazon gift card'). Goal: 500 landlords, 25,000 units, $500K ARR.
Phase 4
Step 4 - Network Effects and Moat (Months 13-24): Expand to adjacent verticals: HOA fees (via partnerships with HOA management software), utility bills (water, electric), and tuition payments (private schools). Launch a 'Cascade for Tenants' rewards program: tenants earn points for A2A payments, redeemable for rent discounts or gift cards. This creates consumer pull—tenants request Cascade from landlords. Build a two-sided marketplace: landlords get cheaper payments, tenants get rewards. Raise Series A ($10M) to fund consumer acquisition and expand to Europe. Goal: 5,000 landlords, 250,000 units, $5M ARR, 80% gross margin.
Monetization Strategy
Cascade uses a hybrid SaaS + take-rate model. Revenue streams: (1) Transaction fees: 0.8% on A2A payments, 2.5% on card fallback (Cascade keeps 0.3% spread). For a landlord collecting $500K/year in rent, Cascade saves $10K in fees vs. cards and earns $4K in revenue. (2) SaaS subscription: $5/unit/month for landlords (includes AI routing, tenant app, late fee automation). A 100-unit building pays $500/month = $6K/year. (3) Tenant services: $2/tenant/month for rent reporting to credit bureaus (helps tenants build credit). 25% of tenants opt in = $50/month per 100-unit building. (4) Float revenue: Hold funds in Stripe Treasury for 2-3 days before settling to landlords, earning 4-5% APY on float. For $10M in monthly volume, that is $7K/month in interest income. Total revenue per 100-unit building: $4K (transaction fees) + $6K (SaaS) + $600 (rent reporting) + $1K (float) = $11.6K/year. At 5,000 landlords (250K units), that is $29M ARR with 75% gross margin. The moat is vertical lock-in: once landlords and tenants are on Cascade, switching costs are high (tenant app, payment history, credit reporting). Cascade can then cross-sell insurance, maintenance software, and tenant screening—building a full-stack property management OS.
Related Startup Failures
FINANCIAL & FINTECH
54
Nirvana
\USA
$25.0M
THE VALUE PROPOSITION
API infrastructure to embed commercial insurance into any product, positioning as 'Stripe for insurance' with unified carrier connectivity.
CAUSE OF DEATH
Insurance complexity, regulatory fragmentation, carrier adoption resistance, and misaligned product-market fit for embedded insurance killed momentum.
Rise
2019
Fall
2024
FINANCIAL & FINTECH
36
Sleek
\USA
$10.0M
THE VALUE PROPOSITION
Corporate cards and expense management for SMBs, competing against Brex and Ramp in an already consolidated market.
CAUSE OF DEATH
Late market entry into consolidated fintech space; burned cash on customer acquisition against well-funded incumbents during downturn.
Rise
2019
Fall
2023
FINANCIAL & FINTECH
8
RupeeRedee
\India
$35.0M
THE VALUE PROPOSITION
Digitizing financial services for India's underbanked population during the UPI and smartphone revolution.
CAUSE OF DEATH
Unsustainable unit economics in a hyper-competitive market with aggressive customer acquisition costs and thin margins.
Rise
2018
Fall
2025
Disclaimer: This entry is an AI-assisted summary and analysis derived from publicly available sources only (news, founder statements, funding data, etc.). It represents patterns, opinions, and interpretations for educational purposes—not verified facts, accusations, or professional advice. AI can contain errors or ‘hallucinations’; all content is human-reviewed but provided ‘as is’ with no warranties of accuracy, completeness, or reliability. We disclaim all liability for reliance on or use of this information. If you are a representative of this company and believe any information is inaccurate or wish to request a correction, please click the Disclaimer button to submit a request.