• Stablecoin payments provider MANSA has secured $10 million in funding.
• Of today’s investment, $3 million in pre-seed funds come from Tether and Polymorphic Capital, and an additional $7 million are from institutional investors.
• MANSA will use the funds to expand into Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Stablecoin-based payments solutions company MANSA has raised $10 million to help payment companies alleviate global liquidity challenges.

The $10 million consists of $3 million in pre-seed funds co-led by Tether and Polymorphic Capital with participation from Faculty Group, Octerra Capital, and Trive Digital. The additional $7 million comes from institutions, including corporate investors, quantitative funds, and alternative investment firms.

“Securing $10 million in pre-seed and liquidity funding marks a significant milestone in our mission to transform the way money moves. By bringing payments on-chain and leveraging efficient liquidity solutions, we are addressing critical challenges in cross-border transactions — making payments faster, cheaper, and more reliable worldwide,” said MANSA CEO and Co-Founder Mouloukou Sanoh. “This funding accelerates our global expansion, enabling us to empower payment companies with seamless, real-time settlement infrastructure and drive the future of payments.”

MANSA will use the funds to support its expansion into Latin America and Southeast Asia, regions where liquidity challenges hinder cross-border transactions. The company plans to scale its liquidity infrastructure and develop strategic partnerships by expanding the reach of its cross-border payments liquidity solutions.

Co-founded by Mouloukou Sanoh and Nkiru Uwaje, MANSA offers stablecoin-powered liquidity solutions that help reduce prefunding requirements and enable instant settlement across markets. The company helps optimize treasury management by ensuring that liquid funds are always available when and where they are needed.

“MANSA’s vision for addressing liquidity challenges in cross-border payments aligns with our mission to create a more efficient and inclusive financial system. By leveraging USDT for real-time settlements and instant payouts, MANSA is solving critical pain points for payment companies operating in emerging markets. We are proud to collaborate with MANSA and support their efforts to reshape global payment infrastructure,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.

MANSA launched in August of 2024 and has since focused on building partnerships with major payment companies across Africa, Asia, and South America. These partnerships have resulted in MANSA processing $27 million in transaction volume, with nearly $11 million of that on-chain transaction volume occurring in January.

Photo by Magda Ehlers

• Clutch raised $65 million Series B funding, bringing its total raised to over $106 million.
• The investment, which will offer Clutch 200 months of cash runway, comes from Alkeon Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, TruStage Ventures, and Peterson Partners.
• Clutch was founded in 2020 to provide digital account and loan opening tools that enable over 135 credit unions to compete with big tech by enhancing user experiences without overhauling existing systems.

California-based Clutch recently announced it raised $65 million in Series B funds. The round, which boosts Clutch’s total raised to more than $106 million, was led by Alkeon Capital Management with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, TruStage Ventures, and Peterson Partners.

Clutch was founded in 2020, the year that started financial services’ digital transformation wave. With its digital account opening and digital loan opening tools, the company helps credit unions create a modern experience to help them compete with big tech companies while improving the user experience. Clutch is partnered with 31 out of the 33 credit union leagues and has over 135 credit union clients that leverage its digital origination platform to offer their users a better loan and deposit experience.

Clutch CEO and Co-founder Nicholas Hinrichsen attributes the company’s success to its involvement in the credit union space. “Deeply understanding the nuances of the credit union’s business and technology helps us solve the right problems, the right way. We are all-in on credit unions because generic technologies that serve banks and Fintechs alike fail to promote the unique way that credit unions do business — it’s the uniqueness of credit unions and their mission that helps deliver exceptional value to members.”

According to Hinrichsen, today’s investment brings Clutch more than 200 months of cash runway. Clutch will use the funds to support its growth plans and product innovation. The company is investing in AI and expanded platform capabilities to help credit unions compete in an increasingly digital world.

“We strongly believe that we can best serve the credit union movement by partnering with the existing technology providers and thereby leveraging the investments our credit union clients have already made,” said Clutch Chief Product Officer and Co-founder Chris Coleman. “No credit union leader wakes up in the morning, wanting to kick off a two-year long LOS conversion. Replacing your LOS will cost you two years — two lost years with no real progress. Real progress happens when you work with companies like Clutch that enable you to serve your members like a Fintech while getting the most out of your existing systems,” added Clutch Head of Product Tamanna Kottwani.

As consumer expectations for seamless, digital-first experiences continue to rise, it is critical for financial institutions to stay ahead of the curve. This is especially challenging for credit unions, which often face constraints in funding and technical talent. This gap presents an opportunity for third-party fintechs like Clutch, which can help empower credit unions to level the playing field.

Photo by Porapak Apichodilok

• Nevermined has raised $4 million to power AI-to-AI transactions.
• The Switzerland-based company now counts $7 million in total funding, which it is using to build the “PayPal for AI,” enabling seamless payments between AI agents.
• The round was led by Generative Ventures, while Polymorphic Capital, NEAR, Halo Capital, Factor Capital, Lyrik Ventures, and Arca also contributed.

AI payment infrastructure provider for AI-to-AI transactions Nevermined has raised over $4 million. The round boosts the Switzerland-based company’s total funds to $7 million.

Generative Ventures led the round, which also saw participation from Polymorphic Capital, NEAR, Halo Capital, Factor Capital, Lyrik Ventures, and Arca. In addition, Nevermined saw contributions from David Minarsch and Oak from Valory, the builders of Olas, Richard Blythman and Mark Schmidt from Naptha, and Ben Fielding from Gensyn.

“The future of commerce isn’t just about humans trading with humans anymore. It’s about AI agents transacting with other AI agents, and we need entirely new payment systems to facilitate that,” said Nevermined CEO Don Gossen.

Web3-based AI-commerce represents a shift in how transactions occur. While traditional banking and payment systems facilitate transactions between humans, AI-commerce layers in automation. With AI-commerce, AI agents interact, negotiate, and transact autonomously. The new commerce method complements the existing payments infrastructure, enabling faster, smarter, and more personalized solutions for industries like logistics, supply chain, and digital marketplaces. This agentic layer unlocks new opportunities for creativity and efficiency in both human and AI-driven economies.

Nevermined will use today’s funding to accelerate its go-to-market strategy, expand the team, and strengthen partnerships within the AI ecosystem. “This funding will allow us to accelerate our mission of building the financial rails for the emerging AI economy,” added Gossen.

Nevermined was founded in 2022 to develop what it calls the “PayPal for AI,” a system that facilitates payments between AI agents with its payments protocol built for decentralized AI tech stacks. With its AI-commerce tools, Nevermined helps AI developers manage payments, usage tracking, and credit systems for payment applications built within their own app or website. Among the company’s partners are Olas, Naptha, peaq, FLock, and Combinder.

“Current payment infrastructure was built for static transactions, like selling t-shirts on the internet, where the price of a small shirt doesn’t change over time,” said Nevermined CTO Aitor Argomaniz. “AI agents are dynamic and require an equally dynamic payments system that can respond instantly to new requests. We’ve built the foundation already, and now we want to grow user adoption from both AI builders and AI agents.”

Photo by GuerrillaBuzz on Unsplash

• U.K.-based stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK secured a $50 million Series B round, boosting its valuation to $750 million.
• The round was led by Haun Ventures with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Tiger Global.
• BVNK plans to launch in the U.S. next month with offices in New York and San Francisco.

As living proof that the stablecoin revolution is underway, stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK has raised $50 million. The investment is the U.K.-based fintech’s first round since 2022 and boosts its valuation to around $750 million.

Haun Ventures led the Series B round, which also included participation from Coinbase Ventures and existing investor Tiger Global. Notably, Haun Ventures is also an investor in stablecoin infrastructure startup Bridge, which was acquired by Stripe for over $1 billion in October of this year.

“Every competitor of Stripe is coming to us saying, ‘Stripe’s done this, how can we get involved in the space now?'” BVNK cofounder and CEO Jesse Hemson-Struthers told Fortune.

Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat or a physical asset, have the potential to bring significant value to users. That’s because they are both instant and inexpensive, unlike payments made via traditional payments rails such as SWIFT. Stablecoins have exceptional potential for cross-border payments and remittances. They offer greater accessibility compared to traditional banking systems, while also mitigating the volatility typically associated with other cryptocurrencies.

Stablecoin infrastructure companies like BVNK and its competitor Bridge are key players in the stablecoin space, as they serve as on-and-off ramps for converting fiat into stablecoins and back.

BVNK was founded in 2021 and currently processes an annualized volume of $10 billion. The company integrates with established banking networks like SWIFT and SEPA to provide real-time settlement and the ability to operate outside of standard banking hours. BVNK has historically focused on the European and Asian markets, but plans to launch in the U.S. next month, opening offices in New York and San Francisco.

Photo by Nicolas Postiglioni