Fintech innovation continues to concentrate around a clear set of priorities: faster payments, smarter infrastructure, and financial systems built for real operational needs. This week’s edition explores how these shifts are taking shape across payments, insurance, and private markets.
In his analysis, Samarth highlights three companies addressing structural gaps in the ecosystem. Coinbax is bringing institutional-grade controls and governance to stablecoin payments, helping banks adopt tokenized money without compromising oversight. Advance is modernizing insurance premium banking, building the infrastructure insurers and MGAs need to manage complex payment flows with greater efficiency. Pluto is unlocking liquidity in private markets, enabling advisors and high-net-worth clients to borrow against illiquid assets through AI-powered credit infrastructure.
We also feature a Q&A with 1-Click Procurement, exploring how their approach to embedded finance and data-rich transactions is redefining how corporate purchasing and payments happen at the point of sale.
Rounding out the issue, our funding overview highlights the founders and teams securing capital to push financial innovation forward — projects that don’t just attract investment, but help set the direction of the fintech ecosystem itself.
A Q&A with Eric-Jan Krausch on Redefining Corporate Payments Through Embedded Finance
Corporate payments are no longer just a back-office function — they sit at the heart of how companies operate, scale, and make decisions. Yet behind most B2B transactions, the infrastructure remains fragmented, manual, and largely invisible.
1-Click Procurement is part of a new wave of fintechs challenging that invisibility. By rethinking how data, payments, and purchasing connect at the moment a transaction happens, the company is quietly reshaping how enterprises interact with commerce itself.
In this Q&A, we explore with Eric-Jan Krausch the thinking behind their approach, the shifts redefining B2B finance, and why the future of corporate payments will be built less around tools — and more around intelligent, embedded systems.
1. Tell us about yourself and your co-founder(s).
Alabbas (CTO) and I (CEO) are a proven repeat team. We spent years together at my first startup, Acomodeo, where we solved complex payment and process issues for over 40 multinational clients, eventually leading to a successful exit in 2021. We aren’t just looking for a problem to solve; we are returning to a pain point we know intimately. We’ve seen firsthand how broken B2B transactions stifle growth, and we have the technical and operational history to fix it for good.
Read more from the interview: Redefining Corporate Payments Through Embedded Finance
This week’s deal highlights
by @Samarth Shekhar
As clients want faster settlement, 24/7 rails, and programmable cash, incumbent banks are under pressure to offer deposits and banking for stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets. However, if banks issue (or support) stablecoins at scale, customers can move value out of traditional deposits into tokenised money, cannibalising their deposits and risk profile. Watch this space!
Coinbax Raises $4.2M to Bring Institutional Controls to Stablecoin Payments. “Within the next three years, every bank account will have a wallet. Stablecoins and tokenized deposits will become part of every bank’s core infrastructure.” — Peter Glyman, Founder and CEO. “What matters for banks is not speed alone, but having clear rules, accountability, and oversight. Coinbax gives financial institutions a practical way to use stablecoins inside real banking workflows.” — Carey Ransom, BankTech Ventures Managing Director
Verticalized and end-to-end financial services targeting attractive customer segments remains on our radar. Insurance gross written premiums were $7T globally, and Advance, positioning itself as “the bank for insurers” is going for a US market worth well over $3.3T.
Advance, a fintech platform focused on insurance premium banking and payments, has raised $7.3 million in seed funding, according to disclosed funding data. Founded to modernize how insurance premiums are collected, held, and moved, Advance positions itself as infrastructure for insurers, MGAs, and insurance-adjacent fintechs that need embedded banking and payments capabilities. The platform is designed to support premium flows, reconciliation, and payment operations that are often fragmented across legacy systems.
Private markets, estimated at $13T assets under management globally, have a love-hate relationship with investors – loved for their returns, hated for their illiquidity. Pluto is enabling financial advisors and HNWI to borrow against private market assets- a facility so far available only to the ultra-rich.
Pluto Launches an AI-Powered Lending Platform to Unlock Liquidity in Private Markets, Backed by Leading Credit Investors. The company also announced $8.6 million in seed funding from Motive Ventures, Portage, Apollo, and Hamilton Lane to build AI-powered credit infrastructure that enables financial advisors and their high-net-worth clients to borrow against private equity, venture, and alternative assets without selling. Pluto offers a modern solution by transforming illiquid private market assets into instant financial flexibility.
Read on for more on the founders and investors in the news last week. If you are 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.
FUNDING ROUNDS
These 21-year-old dropouts raised $2M to build Givefront, a fintech for nonprofits
The last decade is filled with examples of fintechs that have reshaped how U.S. businesses manage money. Brex simplified corporate cards. Ramp automated spend controls. Mercury rebuilt startup banking. But this wave of financial innovation has largely skipped one major part of the economy: nonprofits.
Givefront, a YC-backed startup founded by 21-year-old Harvard dropout Matt Tengtrakool and UC Berkeley’s Aidan Sunbury, aims to change that. The company is building a financial platform designed specifically for nonprofits, including food banks, animal rescues, non-governmental organizations, churches, and homeowner associations.
Nonprofits generate roughly 6% of the U.S. GDP and contribute trillions of dollars each year, yet most still rely on outdated financial tools. Givefront believes that modern spend management, compliance, and reporting infrastructure — tailored to nonprofit realities — can unlock significant efficiency gains across the sector.
Enterprise AI security firm Ciphero bags $2.5m pre-seed
Ciphero, an enterprise AI security and verification company, has launched with a mission to close a widening security gap created by the rapid adoption of AI across workplaces and the lack of robust controls governing how those systems are used.
The company has raised $2.5m in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round co-led by Sovereign’s Capital and Chingona Ventures, with the backing described as strategic given the firm’s early focus on enterprise-grade deployments.
Founded by Saoud Khalifah, previously the founder of Fakespot which was acquired by Mozilla in 2023, Ciphero is building what it describes as the first AI Verification Layer designed to dynamically capture, verify and govern all AI interactions across an organisation. The platform is designed to cover both human-driven and agentic AI use, including so-called Shadow AI, which often operates outside approved systems and policies.
https://fintech.global/2025/12/22/enterprise-ai-security-firm-ciphero-bags-2-5m-pre-seed/
Advance raises $7.3 million seed round
Advance, a fintech platform focused on insurance premium banking and payments, has raised $7.3 million in seed funding, according to disclosed funding data.
Founded to modernize how insurance premiums are collected, held, and moved, Advance positions itself as infrastructure for insurers, MGAs, and insurance-adjacent fintechs that need embedded banking and payments capabilities. The platform is designed to support premium flows, reconciliation, and payment operations that are often fragmented across legacy systems.
The seed round, completed on December 18, 2025, marks the company’s first disclosed funding event and brings total capital raised to $7.3 million. No investor details were publicly listed.
https://coverager.com/advance-raises-7-3-million-seed-round/
Coinbax Raises $4.2M to Bring Institutional Controls to Stablecoin Payments
BankTech Ventures leads seed round with backing from Connecticut Innovations, Paxos, SpringTime Ventures, and banking industry leaders.
Seed Funding Announcement
Coinbax has raised $4.2 million in seed funding to accelerate development of its programmable trust layer for stablecoin payments. The round was led by BankTech Ventures, with participation from Connecticut Innovations, Paxos, SpringTime Ventures, and other banking and payments industry leaders.
Use of Funds
The capital will support:
• Engineering Development: Accelerating platform build-out and feature expansion
• Infrastructure Integrations: Connecting with custody and wallet infrastructure providers
• Design Partner Onboarding: Working with commercial banks and enterprise payments teams
Platform Capabilities
The Coinbax platform operates on Base and Solana blockchains, supporting major stablecoins including USDC, USDG, RLUSD, and PYUSD, with planned expansion to additional networks.
https://www.coinbax.com/signals/coinbax-seed-funding
Advance raises $7.3 million seed round
Advance, a fintech platform focused on insurance premium banking and payments, has raised $7.3 million in seed funding, according to disclosed funding data.
Founded to modernize how insurance premiums are collected, held, and moved, Advance positions itself as infrastructure for insurers, MGAs, and insurance-adjacent fintechs that need embedded banking and payments capabilities. The platform is designed to support premium flows, reconciliation, and payment operations that are often fragmented across legacy systems.
The seed round, completed on December 18, 2025, marks the company’s first disclosed funding event and brings total capital raised to $7.3 million. No investor details were publicly listed.
According to its website, clients include Voom, Assureful, Novella, and Pathpoint, and LinkedIn shows the company operates with a team of seven.
https://coverager.com/advance-raises-7-3-million-seed-round/
Pluto Launches an AI-Powered Lending Platform to Unlock Liquidity in Private Markets, Backed by Leading Credit Investors
The company also announced $8.6 million in seed funding from Motive Ventures, Portage, Apollo, and Hamilton Lane to build AI-powered credit infrastructure that enables financial advisors and their high-net-worth clients to borrow against private equity, venture, and alternative assets without selling.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pluto Financial Technologies, Inc. has launched the first AI-powered lending platform purpose built for private markets, backed by Motive Ventures, Portage, Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO), Hamilton Lane (Nasdaq: HLNE), Tectonic Ventures, and Broadhaven Ventures. Pluto has raised $8.6 million in equity and secured hundreds of millions in lending capacity.
UK FinTech ANNA Money secures £10m debt funding
ANNA Money, a London-based FinTech providing business banking and automated accounting tools for small businesses and the self-employed, has secured fresh funding as the UK prepares for a major shift in tax reporting requirements.
According to UKTN, the company has raised £10m in debt funding, with the financing provided by Flashpoint VC through its growth debt arm, as ANNA Money positions itself for increased demand ahead of the rollout of Making Tax Digital for Self Assessment.
Founded in 2017, ANNA Money offers a broad suite of financial services designed to simplify day-to-day administration for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Its platform combines business current accounts with invoicing, payroll, tax support and administrative tools, aiming to reduce the manual burden associated with running a business.
https://fintech.global/2025/12/19/uk-fintech-anna-money-secures-10m-debt-funding/
FINNY raises $17m series A to scale AI prospecting platform
FINNY AI, an AI-powered prospecting and marketing platform built specifically for financial advisors, has closed a $17m series A funding round to accelerate its rapid growth and product expansion across the wealth management industry.
The series A round was led by Venrock, with participation from new and existing investors including Y Combinator, Maple VC and Crossbeam Ventures. The investment brings FINNY’s total funding to more than $20m following a $4.3m seed round completed in December 2024.
FINNY was founded in March 2024 by AI engineers Eden Ovadia, Victoria Toli and Theo Janson. The company focuses on applying advanced artificial intelligence, data intelligence and automation to help advisors identify, prioritise and engage prospective clients more effectively. By removing manual effort from prospecting, FINNY enables advisors to spend more time on client relationships rather than lead management.
https://fintech.global/2025/12/22/finny-raises-17m-series-a-to-scale-ai-prospecting-platform/
US stablecoin-focused neobank Kontigo raises $20m in seed funding
Kontigo CEO Jesus Castillo says that in the past year, “Kontigo crossed $30 million in annual revenue, $1 billion in payment volume and one million users in under 12 months”.
Kontigo, a stablecoin-focused neobanking start-up based in the US, has raised $20 million in seed funding to accelerate its development and global expansion plans.
Co-founded in 2023 by president Gino Guatavita and CEO Jesus Castillo, Kontigo was launched to serve Latinos across the US and Latin America with a stablecoin-focused banking app built to cut down the traditional transaction fees and wait times associated with cross-border payments.
https://www.fintechfutures.com/blockchain-crypto-digital-assets/kontigo-raises-20m-in-seed-funding
Sequence drives agentic automation with $20m Series A
Sequence targets $165 billion order-to-cash market “overdue for disruption” with agentic AI payroll tech.
US-based revenue and payroll platform Sequence has raised $20 million in its Series A funding round, led by 645 Ventures. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Firstminute Capital, Passion Capital, Dig Ventures and Vor Capital also invested funds during the raise.
Sequence has earmarked the proceeds to expand both its engineering and go-to-market teams, and to also further develop its agentic AI solutions tasked with eliminating manual operations in finance.
Founded in 2021 by CEO Riya Grover and Eamon Jubbawy, Sequence was created to target a $165 billion order-to-cash market “overdue for disruption”. Using AI across the entire contract-to-cash cycle, Sequence’s AI agents automate communications, detect anomalies and variances in invoices and convert contracts into automated billing and invoicing schedules, all synced to CRM and ERP.
https://www.fintechfutures.com/venture-capital-funding/sequence-raises-20m-in-series-a
Olea secures $30m in Series A funding round led by BBVA
The trade finance fintech says BBVA’s participation in the round accelerates its expansion “into new corridors across Europe, the US, Latin America, and Asia”.
Singapore-based trade finance platform Olea has secured $30 million in a Series A funding round.
Spanish banking giant BBVA led the round, with equity also being provided by XDC Network, theDOCK, SC Ventures, and more.
Olea was formed in 2021 as a joint venture between Standard Chartered Bank and China-based tech firm Linklogis. The platform brings together firms that need supply chain financing with investors who inject capital into trade finance assets as an alternative asset class.
Thread raises $30.5m to expand embedded banking digital branch model
Thread Bancorp, the parent of Thread Bank, has closed a $30.5m funding round to support the continued build-out of its embedded banking proposition.
The new capital raise has been completed to accelerate the development of Thread’s embedded banking and “digital branch” model, as the company looks to meet customers within the platforms and brands they already use, rather than through traditional branch-led distribution.
Founded in 2021, Thread has undergone a significant transformation from a conventional community bank into a tech-forward banking partner serving customers nationwide. The company positions itself as an infrastructure provider for embedded finance, enabling small business and consumer brands, as well as vertical SaaS platforms.
Architect Financial Technologies lands $35m for new AX exchange
The fundraise was led by Tioga Capital and Miami International Holdings, with support from Galaxy Ventures, ARK Invest, VanEck, Trumid, Geneva Trading, Coinbase Ventures, Strobe Ventures, CMT Digital, and Third Kind Venture Capital.
Chicago-based fintech Architect Financial Technologies has raised $35 million in a Series A funding round to further develop its flagship perpetual futures exchange AX.
Launched in November in partnership with Connamara Technologies, AX enables trading of perpetual futures on traditional financial assets, including currencies, stocks, indexes, interest rates, and commodities like metals and energy.
Architect is currently onboarding institutional accounts to AX, with CEO Brett Harrison describing the funding as a catalyst for initiating AX’s “next critical phase of growth”.
Fraud prevention FinTech Informed.IQ secures $63m funding
Informed.IQ, an AI-powered loan verification and fraud prevention RegTech company, has announced a significant growth equity investment of $63m.
The company has secured $63m in growth capital from Invictus Growth Partners, which will support Informed.IQ’s next phase of expansion and product development, said Financial IT.
Founded to address verification and fraud challenges in lending, Informed.IQ provides agentic AI technology designed to verify loans and detect fraud at speed and scale. The platform is currently used by seven of the top ten US auto lenders and is trusted by some of the country’s largest banks. To date, Informed.IQ has supported more than $350bn in loan originations, reducing loan closing times from days to minutes while maintaining high levels of accuracy.
https://fintech.global/2025/12/17/fraud-prevention-fintech-informed-iq-secures-63m-funding/
Octane launches Series F funding round with $100m raise
Octane, a US-based FinTech specialising in digital lending and point-of-sale finance for recreational purchases, has closed a $100m Series F equity funding round as it looks to accelerate growth, expand into new markets and enhance its technology-led product suite.
The new capital raise was completed to build on Octane’s strong origination momentum and to support continued investment in innovation, market penetration and product development. The Series F round also includes funding allocated for secondary share transfers.
The Series F round was led by Valar Ventures, with participation from Upper90, Huntington Bank, Camping World and Good Sam, Holler-Classic and other investors. Prior to this round, Octane had raised $242m in total equity funding, including a Series E completed in 2024.
https://fintech.global/2025/12/15/octane-launches-series-f-funding-round-with-100m-raise/
Stablecoin payments firm RedotPay bags $107m funding
RedotPay, a stablecoin-based payments FinTech focused on enabling borderless digital transactions, has announced it has raised $107m in a Series B round
The company announced it has raised $107m in a Series B round, led by Goodwater Capital, with participation from Pantera Capital, Blockchain Capital and Circle Ventures, alongside continued backing from existing investor HSG and others. The round was described as oversubscribed and brings RedotPay’s total capital raised in 2025 to $194m.
Founded to simplify the use of stablecoins in everyday financial activity, RedotPay is building payment infrastructure designed to make fund movement instant, predictable and borderless for both crypto-native and non-crypto users.
https://fintech.global/2025/12/19/stablecoin-payments-firm-redotpay-bags-107m-funding/
Imprint hits unicorn status following $150m Series D
Imprint’s latest raise has doubled the company’s valuation to $1.2 billion, up from $600 million following its $75 million Series C round in October 2024.
Imprint, a New York-based co-brand financial platform, has reached unicorn status after securing $150 million in a Series D funding round, valuing the company at $1.2 billion.
The round was led by Californian VC firm Khosla Ventures, with additional participation from Kleiner Perkins, Hedosophia, Spice Capital, Thrive Capital, Ribbit Capital, and Timeless.
Founded in 2020, Imprint enables brands such as Rakuten, Booking.com, and Fetch to “design, launch, and operate financial products and loyalty experiences”, according to a company statement.
Digital bank Trade Republic valued at €12.5bn in €1.2bn deal
Trade Republic has strengthened its shareholder base as part of a major secondary transaction that values the business at €12.5bn, underscoring sustained investor confidence in its long-term growth strategy.
Investors completed a €1.2bn secondary round, led by existing backers Founders Fund alongside other long-standing shareholders. The transaction also brought in new institutional investors, including Wellington Management, GIC, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Khosla Ventures, as well as Lingotto Innovation and Aglaé, the technology investment arm of the Arnault family. Existing investors Sequoia, Accel, TCV and Thrive Capital also increased their stakes.
Founded in 2019, Trade Republic operates as a digital banking and savings platform focused on providing simple, low-cost access to capital markets for retail investors across Europe.
https://fintech.global/2025/12/23/digital-bank-trade-republic-valued-at-e12-5bn-in-e1-2bn-deal/
Each week, we track the signals shaping the future of finance — from emerging infrastructure plays to the founders quietly solving hard problems at scale.
If this edition sparked ideas or new perspectives, we invite you to explore our previous issues and stay with us as we continue mapping the forces transforming fintech, one story at a time.