This week in fintech: big moves across payments, lending, and DeFi. Rainforest doubles down on marketplace payment infrastructure, Mazlo expands financial access for Latino communities in the U.S., Aven raises a mega round to scale its “machine banking” vision, and Kamino strengthens the DeFi ecosystem on Solana. Plus, don’t miss our Q&A with Irene Hernandez, founder & CEO of Gataca, on the future of digital identity.
Deal highlights
There is a vertical SaaS for almost every business now, but Mazlo is one of the few defining and going for the venture scale opportunity in the Nonprofit sector. Thanks to @Mary-Ann Avazedo for another great startup story.
Mazlo Emerges From Stealth With $4.6M To Help (the $3.7 trillion) Nonprofit Sector Historically ‘Left Behind By Fintech’
…their aim with Mazlo was to build a fully compliance-driven solution, “one that had all of the banking and finance tools a nonprofit organization would need. The compliant piece was everything, because once you make an accounting or reporting error, it doesn’t matter how much you’re helping people, fail an audit and you risk losing your nonprofit designation and have to shut down,” Alavi explained.
Mendy agrees with Chavez that tech companies and investors alike have historically ignored the nonprofit sector because “it’s often seen as too fragmented or not lucrative enough.”
“This is pretty shortsighted given that nonprofits drive $3.7 trillion in annual revenue,” he said.
With the size of opportunity that Nubank unlocked in consumer banking in Brazil, and given the specialized needs of mid-market businesses and founders who understand this, I’ll be watching this space go from automating finance to all things finance.
Kamino landed $10 million to automate finance for midsized firms in Brazil. Brazil has one million mid-market businesses, but their CFOs have had to deal with fragmented systems, outdated tools, notoriously complex regulations, and manual processes that slow them down. Enter Kamino, the full-stack financial operating system…. Kamino serves 2,400 companies and over a 3x ARR year-over-year growth rate, with a clear parth to $10 million by the end of next year.
Embedded payments meets vertical SaaS –
Stripe Challenger Rainforest Lands $29M Series B…Rainforest, which is a self-described challenger to fintech giant Stripe, bills itself as a “payments-as-a-service” provider. Put simply, it aims to help vertical software companies enable payment processing for their merchants…Rainforest stands out from competitors such as Stripe and Adyen in that it was “purpose-built” for vertical software platforms. Those companies, he claims, initially built their platforms for merchants “and then retrofitted for software platforms.”
Yes, it is a credit card connected to your home equity.
Aven Raises $110M Series E at a $2.2B Valuation to Build America’s First “Machine Banking” Platform for Homeowners
Aven built the first successful HELOC-backed credit card, which fundamentally reimagines how consumers access their home equity. Unlike a traditional HELOC with lengthy approvals and high upfront costs, Aven’s Home Equity Card provides fast and convenient access to a consumer’s home equity with a premium credit card experience. The innovation delivers borrowing costs up to 50% lower than traditional credit cards while providing 2% unlimited cash back — the “best of both worlds,” unmatched by other options…. Aven has since issued over $3 billion in credit lines and saved consumers over $215 million in interest.
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 of 20K+, reach out to Samarth Shekhar or Frank Schwab.
The future of identity: a Q&A with Irene Hernandez of Gataca
In an increasingly digital world, trust is the most valuable currency. Verifying someone’s identity online remains costly, cumbersome, and vulnerable to fraud. Gataca was born to change that. From her early days at MIT to becoming a leader in digital identity solutions, Irene shares how her passion for technology turned into a mission: building the identity layer the Internet has been missing. In this interview, we explore the problem Gataca solves, how their unique focus on ID Wallets redefines user experience, and where the company is heading in the coming years
1. Tell us a bit about yourself, and how you got the idea for Gataca.
From programming on an MS-DOS computer as a child to advising multinationals on IT strategy for over a decade, technology has always been at the heart of my life and career. The idea for Gataca was born at MIT, where I was researching decentralized architectures to fight online identity fraud. What began as an academic project quickly turned into a mission: to build the Internet’s missing identity layer.
Read more from the interview here: http://www.fintechforum.de/the-future-of-identity-a-qa-with-irene-hernandez-of-gataca/
Funding Rounds
Orbii closes $3.6 million seed to unlock $1 billion in SME financing by 2026
Saudi Arabia-based Orbii has raised $3.6 million in a seed round led by Prosus Ventures, with participation from VentureSouq, DASH Ventures, Taz Investments, and Sanabil 500.
Founded in 2024 by Nauman Ali, Guillaume Kieffer and Nasara Mughal, Orbii provides embedded credit infrastructure, enabling banks, fintechs, and B2B platforms to launch SME lending products.
Orbii plans to expand in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, enhance its engineering and data science teams, and unlock $1 billion in SME financing by 2026.
https://www.wamda.com/2025/09/orbii-closes-3-6-million-seed-unlock-1-billion-sme-financing
Mazlo Emerges From Stealth With $4.6M To Help Nonprofit Sector Historically ‘Left Behind By Fintech’
After working for nearly two decades in the nonprofit sector, Kian Alavi saw firsthand one of the biggest pains the sector experienced: managing finances.
So he teamed up with Sean Anderson and Chad Haynes to build a platform that could help nonprofits manage this pain. The goal was to solve the problem of nonprofit money management at scale.
But then Alavi ran into another problem. Raising money to build Mazlo, the startup he’d conceived of.
“Fundraising was brutal,” he recalls. “Over 70 VCs passed, and I stopped counting. Nobody wanted to hear about nonprofits, let alone nonprofit finance.”
But Alavi, who had worked at the San Francisco-based Good Samaritan Family Resource Center for over eight years, wasn’t ready to give up.
https://news.crunchbase.com/fintech/mazlo-emerges-stealth-nonprofit-management
Metal Raises $5M in Funding
Metal, a NYC-based provider of an AI platform built for private market investors, raised $5M in funding.
The round was led by Base10 Partners.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.
Founded by Metal Taylor Lowe, James O’Dwyer, and Sergio Prada, Metal is a provider of an AI platform that helps private market investors reach better insights faster through AI-powered research, screening, and diligence. The company takes a data-first approach to solving the fragmentation challenges facing investment teams, creating a unified and configurable system that maps institutional knowledge and accelerates decision-making.
https://www.finsmes.com/2025/09/metal-raises-5m-in-funding
Tot raises €7M to accelerate the financial digitalization of Italian SMEs
Tot is designed to simplify the administrative and financial management of businesses and professionals.
Italian fintech platform Tot has closed a pre-Series A investment round of €7 million. The round was led by CDP Venture Capital, with participation from Azimut Group, The Techshop, X-Equity Venture Club, ClubDeal Digital, and early backer Banca Sella. Co-investors also include a Chapeau Media–led consortium of entrepreneurs and executives, Matteo Pichi (Poke House), Pietro Marchetti (Humamy; acquired by Bending Spoons), Giuseppe Nicola Ramonda (Sorelle Ramonda), Francesco Fiorese (Simon-Kucher Italy), and Alessandro Rimassa (Radical HR) via Happy2C Holding, alongside angels Paolo Galvani (Moneyfarm) and Gianluca Cocco (Qomodo).
https://tech.eu/2025/09/11/tot-raises-7m-to-accelerate-the-financial-digitalization-of-italian-smes
Tetra Digital Group Aims to Pioneer Regulated Stablecoin Issuance in Canada
Financial service market leaders Urbana Corporation, Wealthsimple, Purpose Unlimited, Shakepay, ATB Financial, National Bank of Canada, and Shopify invest in groundbreaking digital payment initiative
TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tetra Digital Group, one of Canada’s leading digital asset infrastructure providers; parent company of Tetra Trust and Tetra Unity, today announced the closing of an investment of approximately $10 million from leading Canadian fintechs and financial service providers, including Urbana Corporation, Wealthsimple, Purpose Unlimited, Shakepay, ATB Financial, National Bank and Shopify. As part of the investment, Tetra, with its partners, is aiming to be the first financial institution to launch a Canadian fiat-backed stablecoin in early 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
This marks the first time in Canada that a regulated financial institution will work towards issuing a stablecoin and as part of a broader effort – we’re inviting additional qualified institutions to join and help shape the future of Canadian digital payments.
Kamino landed $10 million to automate finance for midsized firms in Brazil.
Brazil has one million mid-market businesses, but their CFOs have had to deal with fragmented systems, outdated tools, notoriously complex regulations, and manual processes that slow them down. Enter Kamino, the full-stack financial operating system.
We first invested in Kamino when it launched in 2021, and we’re proud to announce today that we are co-leading its $10 million Series A with Quona Capital.
The founders are a dream team for meeting this challenge. Gonzalo Parejo Navajas, Benjamin Gleason, Guto Fragoso, Rodrigo Perenha, and Juliana Strohl each brings a wealth of experience from all angles relevant to tackling this problem, from knowing firsthand the drudgery of managing complex operations in Excel because an ERP was too expensive and clunky, to working with regulators on an ever-evolving and complex ecosystem.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/flourishventures_brazils-kamino-raises-10m-to-unify-cfo-activity
HgCapital Trust invests GBP17 million in workforce management firm
HgCapital Trust PLC on Monday said manager Hg is investing in Winnipeg, Canada-based Payworks Inc, in a move it said represents an “exciting opportunity to accelerate innovation”.
London-based HgCapital Trust provides access to the private equity investments of manager Hg.
HgCapital Trust said it will invest around GBP17 million in Payworks, with other institutional clients of Hg investing alongside HgT via the HG Genesis Fund.
Payworks is a workforce management company that provides payroll, HR, time and attendance, and workforce analytics solutions to over 40,000 businesses nationwide.
HgT said the investment reduces its outstanding commitments to invest in Hg transactions to around GBP1.7 billion.
The trust expects to report its half-year results on Monday next week.
Ume Raises USD $21.8M in Series B Funding
Ume, a São Paulo, Brazil-based fintech company improving credit in Brazil, raised USD $21M in Series B funding.
The round was led by Valor Capital Group and Bewater, with participation from PayPal Ventures, NFX, Globo Ventures, Canary and BigBets.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its payment network, strengthening its technology, AI infrastructure, and commercial capabilities.
Led by CEO Berthier Ribeiro, and COO Theo Ramalho, Ume is a fintech improving how businesses offer and operate with credit. Its platform empowers merchants to build and scale their own credit businesses, generating new profit pools, deepening customer relationships, and reducing reliance on traditional financial institutions.
https://www.finsmes.com/2025/09/ume-raises-usd-21-8m-in-series-b-funding
Stripe Challenger Rainforest Lands $29M Series B
Rainforest, a startup that embeds payment processing into other software platforms, has raised $29 million in a Series B funding round, the company told Crunchbase News exclusively.
Matrix Partners and Infinity Ventures co-led the financing for the Atlanta-based company, which also included participation from Accel, Tech Square Ventures and The Fintech Fund. All are repeat backers. In total, Rainforest has raised $57.5 million since its 2022 inception.
Rainforest, which is a self-described challenger to fintech giant Stripe, bills itself as a “payments-as-a-service” provider. Put simply, it aims to help vertical software companies enable payment processing for their merchants.
https://news.crunchbase.com/fintech/stripe-challenger-rainforest-seriesb-funding
Accion Ventures closes $61.6 million fund to invest in early-stage fintech
Non-profit group Accion International is boosting its investment initiative for seed stage fintech startups working on financial inclusion, raising $61.6 million from international investors.
Limited Partners in the fund include the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO, Proparco, ImpactAssets, Ford Foundation, MetLife Asset Management and Mastercard Worldwide.
Supporting investments across Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the United States, Accion Ventures seeks out innovative tech companies that promote financial inclusion around the globe and have the potential to generate attractive returns.
The most recent initial investments by the new fund are PaidHR in Nigeria, Foyer in the United States, FinFra in Indonesia, and Flowcart in Kenya.
Aven Raises $110M Series E at a $2.2B Valuation to Build America’s First “Machine Banking” Platform for Homeowners
Led by Khosla Ventures, Aven Expands Beyond Home Equity in its Mission to Deliver the Lowest-Cost Credit in America
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aven, the pioneer in home equity–backed credit cards, today announced a $110 million Series E financing at a $2.2 billion post-money valuation — more than double its valuation from a year ago. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from existing investors General Catalyst, Caffeinated Capital, GIC, Electric Capital, and Founders Fund.
With the support of their investors, Aven is well-positioned to accelerate building America’s first full-service “machine banking” platform – powered by automation, patented robotics, and large-scale machine learning – to dramatically reduce borrowing costs and support consumers in every aspect of their financial lives.
Speedchain Raises $111M in Equity and Debt Financing to Accelerate Expansion and Innovation for Construction and Project Spending
ATLANTA, Sept. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Speedchain, a global provider of modern commercial card programs and advanced expense management solutions, today announced the successful close of $111 million in strategic equity and debt financing. The debt financing was provided by Community Investment Management (CIM), a private credit impact investment manager. Equity investors include GTM Fund, Village Global, TTV Capital, K5 Global, Tandem, and Emigrant Bank.
This capital infusion will accelerate Speedchain’s go-to-market strategy, product innovation, and national expansion as the company continues to modernize financial workflows across construction and other project-driven industries. It follows exciting recent developments including the addition of Dennis Lyandres, former CRO at Cloudera and Procore, to Speedchain’s Board of Directors, as well as a new national partnership with The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
EXITS
IPOs & SPACs
SPAC QDRO Acquisition files for a $200 million IPO, targeting the financial services sector
QDRO Acquisition, a blank check company targeting the financial services sector, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering.
The company plans to raise $200 million by offering 20 million units at $10. Each unit contains one share of common stock and one-half of one warrant, exercisable at $11.50.
QDRO Acquisition is led by CEO and Director Michael Fox-Rabinovitz, who serves as CIO and Partner at Chartwell Capital, and CFO Paul Sykes, who serves as CFO of Apex Treasury. The SPAC plans to target the financial services sector, focusing on legacy financial firms that it can introduce to a large and growing customer base in order to generate greater future value.
https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/113445/SPAC-QDRO-Acquisition-files-for-a-$200-million-IPO-targeting-the-financial
SPAC Meshflow Acquisition Files for $300 Million IPO
Meshflow Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, filed for a $300 million initial public offering.
The company said Wednesday it expects to target opportunities and companies that operate at the infrastructure layer of the blockchain and digital asset ecosystem for its initial business combination. It also said “the global market for blockchain infrastructure, decentralized middleware, and Web3 platform services is scaling rapidly.”
Meshflow added its most likely targets will have enterprise values exceeding $1 billion.
The company said it intends to apply to list its units on The Nasdaq Global Market.
Lendbuzz reveals 38% revenue surge in US IPO filing as fintech listings rebound
Sept 12 (Reuters) – Lendbuzz’s revenue surged 38% in the first half of 2025, the auto loans platform revealed in its U.S. initial public offering paperwork on Friday, as it became the latest financial technology firm set to hit the new listings market.
The Boston, Massachusetts-based company reported net income of $11.1 million on revenue of $172.9 million in the six months ended June 30, compared with net income of $5.6 million on revenue of $125.4 million a year earlier.
Fintech IPOs are starting to trickle back in numbers as investor appetite for high-growth tech stocks revives after a years-long slump.
“I expect activity across the broader tech landscape to continue, but AI and fintech will likely remain the most active and closely watched areas of the IPO market this year,” said Edward Best, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
CoinShares to Go Public by Merging With SPAC
CoinShares has agreed to go public by merging with the special purpose acquisition company Vine Hill Capital Investment.
The maker of financial products that gives investors exposure to crypto assets said Monday morning that the business combination gives it a pre-money equity value of $1.2 billion.
The deal positions CoinShares as one of the biggest publicly traded digital asset managers in the world, the European firm said, adding that it would use the transaction to fuel more international expansion.
“This transaction represents far more than a change of listing venue from Sweden to the United States,” Chief Executive Jean-Marie Mognetti said. “It signals a strategic transition for CoinShares, accelerating our ambition for global leadership, supported by favorable regulatory tailwinds.”
https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202509085182/coinshares-to-go-public-by-merging-with-spac
Crypto exchange Gemini prices IPO above range to raise $425 million
Sept 11 (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency firm Gemini Space Station raised $425 million in an initial public offering on Thursday, pricing its stock above a marketed range.
The company led by the billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss sold around 15.2 million shares for $28 apiece, after marketing them for $24 to $26, it said in a statement, confirming an earlier report by Reuters.
The IPO values Gemini at $3.33 billion on a non-diluted basis, according to a Reuters calculation.
The price range was lifted earlier this week from $17 to $19, underscoring robust investor demand.
New York City-based Gemini had capped IPO proceeds at $425 million, in a rare move, even as the offering drew orders more than 20 times the shares available, Reuters reported earlier in the day.
https://www.reuters.com/business/crypto-exchange-gemini-prices-ipo-above-range-raise-425-million
Klarna’s $17 billion IPO has just turned 40 staffers into overnight millionaires—while Nvidia, Canva, and Palantir workers are seeing similar gains
- Klarna made its New York Stock Exchange debut this week, sending its market cap soaring to $15 billion—propelling around 40 staffers to millionaire status overnight, with its executive team gaining the most from the IPO. It’s not the first time Klarna’s success has created ultrarich employees—at least 115 of its workers have hit seven-figure net worths since 2021. And staffers at other tech companies, including Nvidia, Canva, and Palantir, who invested early have also made it into the exclusive wealth club.
Many might think that only savvy investors, pioneering founders, and rising CEOs become millionaires overnight—but employees are reaping seven-figure net worths from the successes of their companies, too. Three dozen lucky Klarna staffers just joined the ultrarich club thanks to its recent stock windfall.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/klarna-17-billion-ipo-just
Figure Technology Surges 24% in Nasdaq Debut After $788 Million IPO
Blockchain-based lending platform closes first trading day with $6.6 billion valuation following strong investor demand
Figure Technology Solutions made a strong public debut Thursday, with shares closing 24.44% above their $25 IPO price after raising $787.5 million in one of the year’s most closely watched fintech offerings.
The blockchain-based lending platform opened at $36 per share on the Nasdaq, representing a 44% premium to its offering price, before settling at $31.11 at the close. The performance gave Figure a market capitalization of approximately $6.6 billion and demonstrated continued investor appetite for companies leveraging blockchain technology in financial services.
M&A
Coinbase acquires team to accelerate onchain consumer roadmap: Building the #1 financial app
TL;DR The founders of Sensible are joining Coinbase to help us build the best platform for people worldwide to use their money. The team’s expertise in building DeFi-powered consumer applications will meaningfully accelerate our onchain consumer roadmap and advance our goal of building an everything exchange.
At Coinbase, we believe the future of finance is onchain. And as the world’s leading crypto platform, we’re building a roadmap that doesn’t just keep pace with innovation – it defines it. Our vision is clear: to make Coinbase an everything exchange, the gateway to a thriving onchain economy, and the best place to grow your money and manage everyday finances.
https://www.coinbase.com/zh-cn/blog/Coinbase-acquires-team-to-accelerate-onchain-consumer-roadmap
SIBS boosts Polish presence with ITCARD acquisition
The binding agreement builds on SIBS’s previous acquisitions of Polish payment companies Paytel and Kar-tel.
European payment solutions provider SIBS Group is set to acquire ITCARD, a Poland-based company specialising in processing ATM and electronic payment transactions for banks and financial institutions. The terms of the agreed acquisition, which remains subject to regulatory approval, have not been disclosed.
The proposed purchase will integrate ITCARD’s payment services portfolio into SIBS’s operations, including the Planet Cash ATM network, Planet Pay payment terminal suite, and the company’s card issuance business.
The integration brings approximately 5,500 ATMs and over 181,000 POS terminals under SIBS management, bolstered by the addition of around 470 ITCARD employees. Following the transaction, SIBS will process more than 17 billion transactions annually across its expanded network of payment services.
https://www.fintechfutures.com/m-a/sibs-boosts-polish-presence-with-itcard-acquisition
SoftBank, GIC weigh selling stakes in Vietnam’s VNLife: sources
SoftBank Vision Fund and GIC Pte. are exploring the sale of their stakes in VNLife, a fintech company operating in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian markets, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The two investors have engaged a financial adviser and are reaching out to potential buyers, the sources said.
A deal could value VNLife at US$1 billion or more, though discussions are in early stages and may not result in a transaction.
VNLife, founded in 2007, owns the digital payments platform VNPay and has a presence in Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
The company raised over US$250 million in 2021 from investors including General Atlantic and Dragoneer Investment Group, after securing US$300 million from GIC Pte. and SoftBank Vision Fund 1 earlier.
https://www.techinasia.com/news/softbank-gic-weigh-selling-stakes-in-vietnams-vnlife-sources
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.