In a world where finance moves faster than regulation can catch up, the real winners are those who turn complexity into clarity and risk into rocket fuel. This week we celebrate the boldest builders pushing the industry forward.
Samarth Shekhar spotlights two standout deals in our Deal Highlights: Pluvo’s $5M seed that’s redefining the CFO’s decision layer and QFEX’s $9.5M launch that’s bringing 24/7 trading to traditional assets. Frank Schwab challenges conventional wisdom in his must-read analysis on why the Risk Committee is now the engine of innovation, not the brake.
Our exclusive Q&A with Carl Strempel of Qala AG reveals how to embed real-time governance at the heart of AI systems. And our Funding Rounds & M&A recap showcases the capital and consolidation moves that are fueling tomorrow’s fintech leaders.
These stories aren’t just headlines — they’re your blueprint for what’s next. Keep reading. The future is being written right now.
A Q&A with Carl Strempel from Qala on Building Real-Time Data Governance for the AI Era
Inthe fast-evolving world of AI adoption, where innovation races ahead but regulation struggles to keep pace, true leaders don’t just build technology—they embed trust from the very first line of code. That’s the vision behind Qala AG, founded by David Scott Turner, Carl Strempel, and Bruno Soares, a team with a strong track record of building secure, compliant infrastructure in highly regulated environments.
After scaling and exiting their previous venture, Imburse Payments—an enterprise payments platform used by global insurers—to a US-listed Insurtech in 2023, they spotted a critical gap: data compliance, governance, and risk management remain largely siloed, reactive, and built for manual, human use. Controls are typically applied only after data has been created or ingested, rather than being proactively embedded and enforced at the point of origin. They believe governance can no longer sit at the edges; it needs to be embedded directly where data is created and used. They founded Qala to make that shift possible. In this candid Q&A, Carl Strempel shares how the team is turning that belief into reality.
1. Tell us about yourself / your co-founder(s).
As a team we have worked together for many years building technology in highly regulated industries. Before founding Qala AG, we built and scaled Imburse Payments together, an enterprise payments platform used by global insurers. After exiting the company to a US-listed Insurtech in 2023, we continued to lead critical areas across product, engineering, and AI initiatives until leaving to start Qala AG.
Our team has a complementary combination of product, engineering, and compliance expertise, shaped by years working with highly regulated data in the financial services and insurance sectors. Operating in those environments gave us first-hand insight into the complexity of managing strict data security requirements, regulatory frameworks, and evolving compliance obligations.
Over time we became increasingly frustrated by how much data governance and compliance still relied on manual processes, spreadsheets, and institutional knowledge, particularly when teams needed to evidence how data was handled across modern software systems. We realised that for many stakeholders, internal software systems were a black box, making data security and governance difficult to verify in practice and something that was becoming a real bottleneck for the safe adoption of agentic solutions.
These experiences led us to found Qala. The company was created to shift governance and security left to where data and software are actually built and operated. We enable organisations to embed governance directly into their systems, providing real-time data visibility and ensuring compliance happens continuously rather than retrospectively.
Read more from the interview: Rethinking Compliance and Data Visibility in the Age of AI
Deal Highlights
Pluvo isn’t the first “AI Copilot for CFO” platform. The proposition sits on top of ERP, CRM, HR, BI and FP&A type tools, to simulate decisions in minutes. However, several of those players like Pigment, Anaplan, Netsuite etc. are likely adding AI forecasting and scenario planning. Players like Pluvo need to prove out accuracy while ensuring models are explainable and trustworthy (not hallucinating!) Will this space see further specialization, e.g. by industry vertical?
FinTech Pluvo raises $5m seed for AI finance platform…Unlike traditional planning and reporting tools that focus primarily on data aggregation and visualisation, Pluvo positions itself at what it calls the “decision layer”. By combining deep financial modelling with automated analysis, the system supports continuous variance analysis, multi-scenario planning, AI-driven forecasting and context-aware explanations of performance. Over time, it is designed to build institutional memory by capturing the rationale behind past decisions, making future analysis faster and more aligned with how the business operates.
Not quite The Empire Strikes Back, but something like “Binance for traditional assets” – Crypto markets trained users to expect markets that never close. QFEX is betting that traditional markets will eventually move this direction. Watching them as they go through (likely difficult) regulatory hoops, as an exchange, but also for offering high leverage of up to 50x.
QFEX launches with $9.5m seed round to disrupt global trading… QFEX, a global trading exchange start-up founded by University of Cambridge mathematics graduates and valued at $95m, has officially launched, offering high-leverage, 24/7 direct trading of traditional assets with no brokers, no expiry dates on futures, and no barriers…QFEX positions itself as the first traditional exchange in the world to offer 24/7 trading of traditional assets — a feature previously associated only with digital asset — alongside direct investor-to-investor trading and perpetual futures (“perps”) on traditional assets. These are contracts with no expiry dates, eliminating the rollovers that reportedly cost traders an estimated $5bn each year. The platform also offers leverage of up to 50x, built on infrastructure modelled after professional trading systems.
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.
Why the Risk Committee is the New Engine of Innovation
by Frank Schwab
If you ask most banking executives, they will tell you the Risk and Compliance departments are the “brakes” of the organization.
I fundamentally disagree.
Good brakes don’t exist to slow the car down; they exist so you can drive fast safely.
As we navigate 2026, the complexity of financial services is compounding. We are dealing with AI-driven credit models, institutional digital assets, and real-time cross-border supply chain finance.
In this environment, a weak Risk Committee doesn’t just invite regulatory fines—it actively destroys commercial agility. If your governance isn’t airtight, you cannot innovate. Period.
Funding Rounds
Payr Raises $2.1M in Seed Funding
Payr, a London, UK-based recurring payments company, raised $2.1M in Seed funding.
The round was led by Ingenii Capital, with participation from Haatch, Velocity Capital, and angel investors.
The company intends to use the funds to expand integrations, deepen product infrastructure and accelerate distribution partnerships across the residential sector.
Led by CEO Arthur Greenwood, Payr is a fintech startup that provides a payment platform offering a one-sided payments infrastructure that enables tenants to pay rent with their existing credit cards, while landlords receive the full rent amount via standard bank transfer.
https://www.finsmes.com/2026/03/payr-raises-2-1m-in-seed-funding.html
Alpa lands $3.5M to build financial platform for hospitality
Alpa is building a real-time financial platform for hospitality, giving restaurant operators continuous visibility into margins and profitability to support faster, data-driven decisions and improve operational control.
London-based Alpa has raised $3.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Daphni, with participation from True Capital, 2100 Ventures, Firedrop, Oprtrs Club, Kima Ventures, and Sonorcap. Angel investors include Alexandre Yazdi (Voodoo founder) and Jerome Tafani (former Burger King France CEO and McDonald’s Europe CFO), who has joined the board.
Hospitality remains one of Europe’s largest and most operationally complex sectors, yet financial visibility is often delayed, fragmented, and accounting-driven. Many restaurant groups only gain a clear understanding of profitability weeks after the month-end, which can slow operational decision-making. Recent research suggests that while 79 per cent of restaurants want real-time data, 27 per cent are unable to track basic key performance indicators.
https://tech.eu/2026/02/26/alpa-lands-35m-to-build-financial-platform-for-hospitality/
GRC platform IntelliGRC bags $3.5m to scale compliance tech
IntelliGRC, a GRC platform designed for MSPs and MSSPs, has secured fresh capital to accelerate its growth and product development.
The company focuses on helping service providers manage complex cyber frameworks and regulatory requirements through an automated compliance platform.
The firm confirmed it closed a $3.5m seed funding round on 31 January 2026. The round was co-led by Huntress co-founder and CEO Kyle Hanslovan and venture capital firm Blu Ventures. As part of the investment, Blu Ventures venture partner and former Huntress CFO Marcos Torres will join IntelliGRC’s board. Legal advisory firm Cooley assisted in structuring the round. Additional investors included SaaS Ventures, Early Light Ventures, Hypershift Technologies and several cybersecurity operators, MSP leaders, angels and advisors.
https://fintech.global/2026/03/05/grc-platform-intelligrc-bags-3-5m-to-scale-compliance-tech/
FinTech Pluvo raises $5m seed for AI finance platform
Pluvo, an AI-native financial analysis FinTech built for CFOs and FP&A teams, has announced a $5m seed funding round as it looks to accelerate development of its decision intelligence platform and expand its commercial reach.
The $5m round saw backing from Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z speedrun, Deel, The Perseverance Fund, StandUp Ventures and AltaIR Capital. A number of strategic angel investors also took part, including several of Pluvo’s own customers. The raise follows the company’s recent acceptance into a16z speedrun, the flagship early-stage programme run by Andreessen Horowitz, which was confirmed earlier this year.
Founded to tackle what it describes as a structural weakness in financial analysis, Pluvo argues that modern finance teams are still struggling to turn data into actionable decisions.
https://fintech.global/2026/03/02/fintech-pluvo-raises-5m-seed-for-ai-finance-platform/
Confido raises $9m to scale legal embedded finance
Confido, the embedded financial infrastructure platform built for law firms and legal technology providers, has raised $9m in financing across two rounds, with the latest led by Aquiline Capital Partners.
The round also drew participation from The LegalTech Fund (TLTF), Breakwater Ventures, Live Oak Bank, and Context Ventures, which also led the initial round.
The funding will be used to strengthen Confido’s payments and disbursements infrastructure while expanding into additional embedded financial products designed for LegalTech providers and the law firms they serve. The company says the expansion reflects its broader goal of consolidating fragmented financial workflows into a single, compliant platform.
https://fintech.global/2026/03/02/confido-raises-9m-to-scale-legal-embedded-finance/
QFEX launches with $9.5m seed round to disrupt global trading
QFEX, a global trading exchange start-up founded by University of Cambridge mathematics graduates and valued at $95m, has officially launched, offering high-leverage, 24/7 direct trading of traditional assets with no brokers, no expiry dates on futures, and no barriers.
The company recently closed a $9.5m seed funding round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Y Combinator and Paul Graham, the founder of Y Combinator. The round valued QFEX at $95m.
QFEX positions itself as the first traditional exchange in the world to offer 24/7 trading of traditional assets — a feature previously associated only with digital asset — alongside direct investor-to-investor trading and perpetual futures (“perps”) on traditional assets. These are contracts with no expiry dates, eliminating the rollovers that reportedly cost traders an estimated $5bn each year.
https://fintech.global/2026/03/05/qfex-launches-with-9-5m-seed-round-to-disrupt-global-trading/
Evervault Raises $25M in Series B Financing to Deliver End-to-End Encryption for Highly Sensitive Data
Led by Ribbit Capital, new round brings total funding to $46 million
NEW YORK & DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Evervault, the developer-first platform for encrypting and orchestrating sensitive data, today announced it has raised $25 million Series B financing led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins and Operator Partners. The round brings Evervault’s total funding to $46 million, and will be used to expand its encryption infrastructure, invest in product development, and grow its engineering and product teams.
Focused on protecting sensitive, regulated data, Evervault has gained significant traction in card payments and serves hundreds of global customers, including CarTrawler, Ramp, Rippling, Overwolf and Uniswap.
Silverflow closes $40m Series B to fuel global growth
Silverflow, a cloud-native payment processing company, has closed a $40m (€37m) Series B funding round as it approaches one billion transactions processed annually.
The round was led by Munich-based deep-tech investor Picus Capital, with participation from Rabo Investments – Corporate Venturing, alongside existing investors Inkef, GPT, Crane and Coatue.
The capital will be used to solidify Silverflow’s position in the payment processing market, accelerate global expansion, enhance its product suite and grow its global workforce by more than 50%.
The company has grown from processing around 180 transactions per day to almost 1.75 million daily over the past two and a half years. Silverflow’s customers span acquiring banks, payment companies and high-growth commerce platforms across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, including Deutsche Bank, Bolt, Payabl. and Buckaroo.
https://fintech.global/2026/03/05/silverflow-closes-40m-series-b-to-fuel-global-growth/
TruFin secures strategic investment led by SC Ventures, with participation from FalconX and Road Capital
Strategic investment will help to establish TruFin as the institutional yield standard for onchain markets.
London, United Kingdom, 25 February 2026: TruFin announced a strategic investment led by SC Ventures, the venture building and investment arm of Standard Chartered, with participation from FalconX and Road Capital. The investment supports TruFin’s mission to establish the institutional yield standard for onchain markets, combining permissioned access points and policy-aligned workflows, with permissionless assets designed for broad onchain utility.
Why this matters
Institutional interest in onchain yield is rising, but participation at scale requires more than just attractive returns. Institutions need defined governance, institutional-grade security, and transparent, controlled workflows that match existing custody-first operating models and regulated requirements. TruFin is building the infrastructure layer and standardised approach that institutions can rely on to access and manage onchain yield with confidence.
M&A
UK Fintech Delio Acquired by iAltA Holdings
iAltA Holdings has completed the purchase of Delio, a UK based company specializing in customizable software platforms for handling private investment distribution and analytics. The deal reportedly aligns with the ongoing trend of consolidation in alternative asset management tools, though specifics on the transaction value remain undisclosed.
Delio, headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, emerged in the industry back in 2015, established by entrepreneurs Gareth Lewis and his associates.
The firm has carved out a niche by delivering adaptable, branded technology solutions that help financial entities streamline their operations in non-public investments.
At its core is the Delio Core platform, an intelligent system powered by artificial intelligence that employs user-friendly, minimal-coding components to facilitate the digital transformation of alternative asset handling.
https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2026/02/264320-uk-fintech-delio-acquired-by-ialta-holdings/
BridgeWise Acquires Context Analytics
BridgeWise, a London, United Kingdom-based provider of AI-native wealth intelligence and financial analysis, acquired Context Analytics, a Chicago, Illinois-based provider of AI-powered alternative data processing.
The amount of the deal was not disclosed.
With the deal, BridgeWise will expand its vertically integrated intelligence infrastructure, combining institutional-grade analytics with advanced processing of unstructured data to deliver end-to-end wealth-native insights.
Led by CEO Joe Gits, Context Analytics provides investors, traders, and institutions with technology that converts news, social media, and regulatory filings into structured sentiment signals and machine-readable data.
Led by Co-founder and CEO Gaby Diamant, BridgeWise develops regulatory-compliant AI tools and the pAI wealth agent to provide transparent equity and fund analysis for over 50 institutional clients globally.
https://www.finsmes.com/2026/03/bridgewise-acquires-context-analytics.html
As this edition comes to a close, one truth stands out: the fintech leaders who win are the ones who refuse to choose between speed and safety. They build both into the same code, the same strategy, the same vision.
Thank you for letting us be part of your weekly journey. Whether you’re raising, investing, or scaling, we hope these insights ignite your next big move.
Stay curious. Stay bold. See you next week with more stories that don’t just report the future — they help you shape it. Subscribe, share, and let’s keep building what’s next.