We are back with last week’s deal highlights, and a Q&A with Henri Kasurinnen of Nomain, tackling the challenge of mainframe modernization.
Deal Highlights
If the VC money is headed to AI-first startups, payment, back-office and data monetization solutions can’t be far behind! We believe there is a new, sophisticated buyer and mindset that these startups are addressing- e.g. Creem was founded 10 months ago by ex- Google and Adyen employees, and has “already passed over €930k in annualised revenue, all while being operated by just the two founders and no sales team.”
“Tallinn-based Creem raises €1.8 million “offering programmable tools for global payments, tax handling, revenue automation and multi-party payouts across fiat and stablecoin rails.…With its flagship Revenue Splits feature now out of beta, Creem lets startups automate complex revenue sharing based on contributor, product, or sales channel, addressing a major bottleneck for startups working with distributed teams or multiple creators.”
“Central, the first autonomous back-office platform for startups, has raised $8.6m in a seed funding round led by First Round Capital. The company, founded to help startups avoid time-consuming operational tasks, provides an AI-first solution to payroll, HR, accounting, taxes, benefits, and compliance. Unlike traditional tools, Central integrates directly into Slack, allowing founders to handle back-office tasks with simple requests, rather than navigating complex software or endless forms.
Irys Raises $10M Series A to Unlock $3 Trillion Data Economy With First Programmable Datachain
“The data economy has a massive infrastructure problem,” said Josh Benaron, CEO and Founder of Irys. “AI companies scrape trillions of dollars worth of content while creators see nothing. Enterprises sit on valuable datasets they can’t monetize. We’re building the infrastructure that finally allows data creators to capture the value they generate, turning data that historically is stored statically, into programmable economic assets.”
Interesting to see two players addressing the movement of money, one with a broader, horizontal/ infrastructure focus and another doubling down on more comprehensive banking services for consumers and businesses with Egypt/ Middle East connections.
“Tazapay Lands Strategic Investments from Ripple and Circle…it provides seamless local collection and payout capabilities in over 70 markets, supporting a growing base of global enterprises and platforms across industries. Tazapay processes more than $10 billion in annualized payment volume, has reached operational breakeven, and is growing at 300% year-over-year.
Microsoft and Uber alum raises $3M for YC-backed Munify, a neobank for the Egyptian diaspora…Egypt is one of the world’s largest remittance markets, receiving nearly $30 billion in inflows annually…Munify serves Egyptians abroad — primarily in the U.S., U.K., Europe, and the Gulf — who want to send money home instantly and at better rates. Munify also provides businesses, remote workers, and freelancers in the Middle East a way to open a U.S. bank account and card using only a local ID to receive and spend money, as well as hedge against local currency volatility.
Q&A with Henri Kasurinen, CEO & Co-Founder of Nomain
Tell us a bit about yourself / your co-founder(s)
I’m Henri Kasurinen, CEO and Co-Founder of Nomain. I have a strong background in AI and product development, and I’m passionate about leveraging technology to solving real-world problems. My co-founders are CTO, Hector Tortosa, who brings extensive software development expertise, and COO, Mikko Kesti, who drives sales and operations. Together, we’re combining deep technical skills and entrepreneurial know-how to modernize legacy enterprise systems.
Read more from the interview here: http://www.fintechforum.de/qa-with-henri-kasurinen-ceo-co-founder-of-nomain/
Read on for more on the founders and investors in the news last week. If you building or backing “what’s next in finance” and want to spread the word with our network, reach out to Samarth Shekhar or Frank Schwab.
Funding Rounds
Tallinn-based Creem raises €1.8 million to help AI-native startups pay, split and scale without borders
Tallinn-based Creem, a FinTech startup building financial infrastructure for AI-first businesses, has secured €1.8 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Practica Capital, alongside Antler and several notable angel investors, including Johan Pietilä, Martin Olofsson, and advisors from Revolut and Crypto.com. The capital will be used to grow the company’s programmable finance platform and expand its global compliance and payment capabilities.
Founded just 10 months ago by Gabriel Ferraz and Alec Erasmus, both former employees of Google and Adyen, Creem has already passed €930k in annualised revenue, all while being operated by just the two founders and no sales team. The startup is positioning itself as the financial OS for AI-native companies, targeting lean, globally distributed teams that require robust, scalable financial tools without the overhead of traditional departments.
Tazapay Lands Strategic Investments from Ripple and Circle, Signaling a New Era for Cross-Border Payments
SINGAPORE, Aug. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Tazapay, a leading global cross-border payments infrastructure platform, today announced the successful close of its Series B funding round with investment from Peak XV Partners, Ripple (US), Circle Ventures, Norinchukin Capital (Japan), and GMO VenturePartners (Japan). Existing investor Peak XV Partners led the round and 2 other existing investors January Capital and ARC180 joined the round.
Tazapay provides seamless local collection and payout capabilities in over 70 markets, supporting a growing base of global enterprises and platforms across industries. Tazapay processes more than $10 billion in annualized payment volume, has reached operational breakeven, and is growing at 300% year-over-year.
Microsoft and Uber alum raises $3M for YC-backed Munify, a neobank for the Egyptian diaspora
Khalid Ashmawy remembers the first time he wired money home while studying in Europe.
He had just received his monthly stipend as a master’s student in Stuttgart and wanted to send part of it back to his family in Cairo. It was usually a slow and expensive process, he recalled. A $400 wire transfer, for instance, could cost $40 in fees and take three business days to arrive.
Years later, while working at Microsoft and Uber in the U.S., and even after founding a startup, that experience hadn’t improved much.
The persistent pain point across different stages of his career eventually inspired Ashmawy to launch Munify, a cross-border neobank designed to give Egyptians abroad a faster, cheaper way to send money home and, for residents in the country, access to U.S. banking.
Welcome Tech Raises $7.5M in Funding
Welcome Tech, a Los Angeles, CA-based provider of a digital platform serving immigrant workforces and the employers who rely on them, raised $7.5M in funding.
Backers included TTV Capital, Mubadala Capital, Westbound Equity Partners, CityRock Ventures Partners, Next Legacy Partners, and BTN Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the development of its proprietary AI infrastructure and expand its workforce engagement platform.
Led by CEO Amir Hemmat, Welcome Tech is a provider of a digital platform built for immigrants, offering access to essential services including healthcare, jobs, education, and financial tools. With over 4.5 million registered members and a growing base of enterprise partners, it enables inclusive economic participation while helping employers recruit, retain, and serve an increasingly diverse workforce.
https://www.finsmes.com/2025/08/welcome-tech-raises-7-5m-in-funding
Central bags $8.6m to transform startup HR and payroll with AI
Central, the first autonomous back-office platform for startups, has raised $8.6m in a seed funding round led by First Round Capital.
The round also saw participation from Y Combinator, Ritual Capital, Multimodal Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Surgepoint Capital, and several prominent founders, including Zeus co-founder and CEO Kulveer Taggar, WayUp co-founder and CTO JJ Fliegelman, and WePay co-founder and CPO Richard Aberman.
The company, founded to help startups avoid time-consuming operational tasks, provides an AI-first solution to payroll, HR, accounting, taxes, benefits, and compliance. Unlike traditional tools, Central integrates directly into Slack, allowing founders to handle back-office tasks with simple requests, rather than navigating complex software or endless forms.
https://fintech.global/2025/08/28/central-bags-8-6m-to-transform-startup-hr-and-payroll-with-ai/
Irys Raises $10M Series A to Unlock $3 Trillion Data Economy With First Programmable Datachain
Irys, the world’s first programmable datachain, today announced it has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by CoinFund, with participation from Hypersphere, Tykhe Ventures, Varrock Ventures, Breed VC, Echo Group, Amber Group, and WAGMI Ventures. The round brings Irys’s total funding to $20 million since 2024, demonstrating sustained investor confidence in programmable datachain infrastructure.
Irys is addressing a fundamental inefficiency in the global economy: the $3 trillion data market, where virtually no one is able to capture value from the data they generate. By combining a high-performance data layer with a native smart contract execution layer, Irys enables data to carry embedded instructions for licensing, monetization, and access control – making it the first blockchain where data actively generates value for those who create it.
Digitt raises $10M Series A led by Yolo Investments
Mexican fintech Digitt raised a $10M Series A round led by Yolo Investments. IGNIA Partners and Capria Ventures also joined the round, alongside Renaud Laplanche, Manolo Sánchez, Dillon Krasnigor, John Buttrick, and Nino Fanlo, who will join Digitt’s board.
Digitt creates fair and transparent financial tools designed to eliminate the high interest rates that banks charge on credit cards. By offering low annual interest rates between 20% and 42%, Digitt helps customers pay less, get out of debt faster, and know exactly how much they owe each month.
The funds will strengthen Digitt’s platform and support regional growth as the company positions itself as a key player in reshaping personal finance in Latin America.
https://latamlist.com/digitt-raises-10m-series-a-led-by-yolo-investments
Indonesia’s Pintarnya raises $16.7m
Pintarnya, an Indonesian platform that helps users find jobs and also offers access to secured loans, has raised $16.7 million in Series A funding.
The round was led by Square Peg, with participation from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and East Ventures.
Pintarnya uses AI to help connect blue-collar workers with employers offering full-time and side-gig opportunities. Founded in 2022, the firm says it now serves over 10 million users and 40,000 employers.
In addition, the company uses employment history as an alternative to traditional credit data, as well as collateral such as electronics and gold, to help 200,000 users access loans from partners.
With funding in place, Pintarnya is planning to widen its financial services offering, adding micro-savings and investments via strategic partnerships.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/46492/indonesias-pintarnya-raises-167m
Singapore’s Atlas Consolidated closes US$18.1 million Series B
Atlas Consolidated announced the closure of an USD18.1 million Series B funding round.
The round was led by Tin Men Capital and includes follow-on investment from strategic investors, Getz, Inc. and Woodside Holdings Investment Management.
David Fergusson, Chief Executive Officer, Atlas Consolidated, said ‘This investment marks a pivotal step in our mission to build better banks through technology. With Tin Men Capital’s support, we can accelerate HugoHub’s expansion to new markets, helping traditional financial institutions create more efficient, inclusive and sustainable systems.’
‘Banks are under immense pressure to transform digitally while still relying on decades-old core systems that are costly, rigid, and fragmented. HugoHub’s full-stack ‘bank-in-a-box’ solution gives banks the flexibility to launch new products, integrate services where they matter most, and refine features without disrupting the wider system.
Jump Trading Alums Raise $20M for aPriori to Bring High-Frequency Trading Tools On-Chain
A group of former Jump Trading, Coinbase (COIN) and Citadel Securities engineers said it raised $20 million in new funding for trading infrastructure startup aPriori, bringing the total capital raised to $30 million.
The round included participation from HashKey Capital, Pantera Capital, Primitive Ventures, IMC Trading, GEM, Gate Labs, Ambush Capital and Big Brain Collective, according to a release.
San Francisco-based aPriori is building what it calls an execution layer for on-chain markets, designed for high-performance Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks.
The firm uses high-frequency trading practices in an attempt to reduce issues that plague crypto markets like wide spreads and maximal extractable value (MEV) leakage.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/jump-trading-alums-raise-20m
Holo secures $22 million Series A to expand digital mortgage solutions across GCC
- Holo, a UAE-based proptech, has raised a $22 million Series A led by Saudi Arabia’s Impact46, with support from Mubadala, Rua Growth Fund, anb seed, and MoreThan Capital, alongside returning investors Salica Oryx Fund and Dubai Future District Fund.
- Launched in 2020 by Michael Hunter and Arran Summerhill, Holo aims to simplify the process of owning a home by offering digital mortgage services where buyers and homeowners can explore refinancing options.
- The new capital will accelerate Holo’s expansion in Saudi Arabia and across the GCC, scale its product and engineering teams, and strengthen partnerships to meet the region’s rising demand for digital homeownership services.
- Last year, Holo raised pre-Series A funding for an unknown amount, led by DFDF and Oryx Fund, along with Aditum Investment Management Limited.
https://www.wamda.com/2025/08/holo-secures-22-million-series-expand-digital-mortgage-solutions-gcc
Atomic Raises $30 Million to Accelerate Global Expansion of Its Embedded Investing Platform
NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Atomic, the embedded investing platform powering fintechs and financial institutions, today announced an additional $30 million in growth capital. The round was led by Aquiline, and Brewer Lane with participation from Intuit, Nationwide Ventures, Erie Strategic Ventures, Samsung Next, and Appia Ventures, as well as existing backers QED Investors, Anthemis, and Y Combinator. The financing will accelerate Atomic’s regulatory expansion and scale its investing platform across banks, insurers, fintechs, and consumer brands.
Atomic is reshaping the wealth-management model by decoupling the client-facing distribution of investing services from the underlying brokerage infrastructure and regulatory obligations.
Crypto startup M0 raises $40 million to build out stablecoin network
Another stablecoin startup has raised serious cash. M0, a company that develops stablecoin infrastructure, announced Thursday that it had raised $40 million in a funding round led by the crypto venture capital firm Polychain and the fintech investor Ribbit Capital.
Other participants included the Endeavor Catalyst fund and existing investors like Pantera and Bain Capital Crypto. Luca Prosperi, cofounder and CEO of M0, declined to specify his startup’s valuation. The Series B round was for equity and locked stashes of the startup’s cryptocurrency, or tokens that can only be sold after a set time period. M0 has raised almost $100 million in capital so far.
https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/08/28/m0-series-b-40-million-polychain-ribbit-capital-stablecoins
Rain Raises $58M Series B Led By Sapphire Ventures to Become the Enterprise Stablecoin Platform of Record
Rain has experienced 10x growth in 2025 and now powers service to 1.5B+ people through a single integration
NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Rain, the enterprise-grade infrastructure for stablecoin-powered payments, today announced a $58 million Series B funding round led by Sapphire Ventures, with participation from Dragonfly, Galaxy Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Samsung Next, Lightspeed, and Norwest. The raise brings Rain’s total funding to $88.5M and comes just five months after the company’s Series A — cementing Rain’s role as the single integration global fintechs, banks, and marketplaces use to launch compliant stablecoin-powered cards, wallets, and payment programs.
That’s a wrap for this edition of Deal Highlights.
Stay tuned for more insights and funding news in our next issue — the fintech ecosystem keeps moving fast, and we’ll keep you updated.