Themis Lands $9.2 Million to Scale its Governance, Risk, and Compliance Platform

Themis Lands $9.2 Million to Scale its Governance, Risk, and Compliance Platform

Correction: This post previously incorrectly reported that Atlanta, Georgia-based Themis raised funds. Today’s round is actually attributed to U.K.-based Themis. While both companies operate in the regtech realm, the former, a Finovate alum that recently won Best of Show, offers a platform that streamlines compliance and collaboration between fintechs and banks, bringing regulatory insight to help banks and fintechs more effectively manage compliance. The latter is a digital financial crime platform that helps businesses manage their financial crime risk exposure.

  • Regtech platform Themis raised over $9.2 million (£7.25 million) in its scale-up round.
  • The round, which is expected to close on December 16, 2024, exceeds Themis’ initial target by a significant margin.
  • Themis will use the funds to leverage AI to continue to democratize due dilligence.

Regtech is rising across the fintech sector, and to prove it, financial crime risk management platform Themis has pulled in more than $9.2 million (£7.25 million) in a scale-up round that surpasses its target.

“Exceeding our funding target reflects not only the confidence of our investors but also the strong financial fundamentals and scalability of our business,” said Themis CFO Simon Samuel. “This additional capital provides us with the financial runway to strategically invest in key areas like AI innovation, market expansion, and operational efficiencies, ensuring long-term sustainable growth.”

The investment, which is expected to close on December 16th of this year, exceeds Themis’ initial target of $3.8 million to $6.3 million (£3 million to £5 million). Once finalized, the funds will add to the U.K.-based company’s existing $6 million (£4.8 million) raised, totaling more than $15 million.

“Surpassing our Scale-Up Funding target by such a significant margin demonstrates the strength of Themis’ vision and its relevance in today’s financial landscape,” said Themis CEO Dickon Johnstone.

Themis was founded in 2018 to help reduce the global impacts of financial crime. The company’s platform, which helps clients identify and manage their specific financial crime risks, leverages KYC and AML data to help companies verify the true identity of their clients while remaining compliant. Themis will use this most recent round to pursue its mission to democratize due diligence by leveraging AI advancements with its financial crime expertise.

Financial services has experienced a surge in regtech adoption, driven by the growth of AI and machine learning, as well as an evolving regulatory landscape. In 2025, regtech is poised to further enhance compliance processes with real-time risk management, automated reporting, and enhanced collaboration between banks and regulators. According to Angela Strange, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, regulation will become code.

“Today, banking and insurance regulations span tens of thousands of pages; SBA lending documentation alone exceeds 1,000 pages,” said Strange. “For businesses, keeping on top of these codes requires byzantine workflows and many hours spent hiring and training staff. Imagine, instead, that those lengthy documents — including text, images, and case precedents — could be used to train regulation-specific LLMs. Suddenly, compliance would become as simple as a Google query. ‘Is [X] compliant? What modifications need to be made?'”


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Zopa Caps Off 2024 with $87 Million in Funding

Zopa Caps Off 2024 with $87 Million in Funding
  • U.K.-based digital bank Zopa raised $87 million in an equity round led by A.P. Moller Holding and existing investors.
  • The round boosts Zopa’s total funding to $1.067 billion.
  • Despite declaring plans for a 2022 IPO during its 2021 funding round, Zopa has decided to wait for better market conditions.

Digital bank Zopa seems to be impervious to the downturn in the fintech funding environment. The U.K.-based fintech has just raised $87 million (€80 million), boosting its total raised to $1.067 billion. The equity round was led by A.P. Moller Holding and existing investors. 

While the investment comes at a time during which many fintechs are experiencing a funding dry spell, this is not the first time Zopa has beaten the odds. In February 2023, Zopa raised an impressive $92 million (£75 million) from existing investors as well as an undisclosed lead investor. At the time, the company said the round “cements and enhances” its unicorn status. 

Zopa, which originally launched as a peer-to-peer lending platform in 2005, pivoted to become a digital bank in 2020, when it received its full banking license from the Financial Conduct Authority. Today, the company holds more than £5 billion in deposits for its 1.3 million customers. Zopa’s platform aims to help users improve their financial health via savings tools, lending products, credit card offerings, and various vehicle financing tools. To date, Zopa has lent more than $16.6 billion (£13 billion) to consumers in the U.K. and currently has £3 billion in loans on its balance sheet. 

“Today’s fundraise validates our financial performance and growth potential,” said Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana. “Since launching our bank in 2020, we’ve consistently offered financial products that offer great value and ease to our customers, supporting our vision to build Britain’s best bank. We are thrilled to have investors who share our excitement at the opportunity to serve more customers across more product categories as we aim to become the go-to bank for millions of consumers.”

Notably, while Zopa billed its 2021 funding round as a “pre-IPO round,” declaring plans to go public by the end of 2022, it appears that plans have changed. The company told TechCrunch that it is not currently pursuing an IPO. “We will wait for the markets to revive and be more positive,” said Janardana in an interview. Interestingly, Klarna, another fintech that delayed its IPO plans, recently filed to go public in 2025. The results of Klarna’s public offering at that time will either convince Zopa that it’s time to IPO or help to cement its decision to continue operating as a private company.


Photo by Matheus Bertelli

interface.ai: Fighting Deepfakes, Training Bots, and Raising Capital

interface.ai: Fighting Deepfakes, Training Bots, and Raising Capital

Agentic AI solutions provider for community banks and credit unions, interface.ai, has introduced a pair of new tools to help fight deepfake fraud. The company has launched two flagship products — device biometric authentication and Generative AI (GenAI) bot training — designed to help financial institutions defend themselves and their customers from fraud and unauthorized access.

interface.ai’s device biometrics solution uses device-based fingerprint and facial recognition technology to authenticate users over voice and chat AI. The new technology builds on the company’s risk-based, multi-factor authentication system, combining device and voice biometrics, AI-driven analysis, and caller anti-spoofing to protect users against evolving fraud threats while minimizing friction.

“Security in financial services demands constant innovation,” interface.ai CEO Srinivas Njay said. “With device biometrics, we are not just offering a new authentication method — we are enhancing our already formidable security framework, offering financial institutions the perfect balance of frictionless access and robust protection.”

interface.ai also unveiled a new, proprietary GenAI capability that enhances the speed of training highly capable AI-powered bots. Training AI bots typically involves manual scripts that delineate every question and response. This process is time-consuming and inefficient, insofar as much of the information a bot will provide already exists on the company’s website or within other readily available company resources. Instead, interface.ai’s new offering directs the AI to the company’s content where it automatically learns from the data and is able to provide accurate responses to customers on day one. Further, the AI bots continuously scan company content for updates to ensure that responses are accurate and current, all without requiring manual intervention.

“Our latest Generative AI capability provides a game-changing solution for financial institutions looking to scale their AI capabilities quickly and effectively,” Njay said. “By streamlining the chatbot training process, we are empowering banks and credit unions to harness the full potential of AI at a fraction of the cost and effort, while providing a more dynamic, conversational experience that resolves more queries.”

interface.ai won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at our all-digital conference, FinovateWest 2020. The company most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2023, introducing Sphere, interface.ai’s GenAI-powered, multimodal, ChatGPT-like AI assistant for financial institutions. The solution is available in two iterations: Sphere for Customers and Sphere for Employees. The former replaces online mobile banking with an AI assistant that provides intelligent guidance and personalized assistance. The latter replaces up to 15 applications typically managed by frontline staff, boosting efficiency by 10x.

interface.ai’s latest launches are part of the company’s fall 2024 product release, which also features an expansion of its biometric consent options now offering integrations with DocuSign, IMM eSign, and Acrobat Sign. interface.ai also announced enhancements to its platform’s content organization that improve both efficiency and ease of use. This includes support for direct synchronization with SharePoint.

In other recent big news for the company, interface.ai secured $30 million in funding last month in a round led by Avataar Venture Partners. The first major investment for the bootstrapped-since-inception firm, the funding makes interface.ai “the most valuable AI company in banking” the company noted in a statement.

“This funding will allow us to accelerate the transformation of self-service in banking through agentic AI, delivering unified and hyper-personalized experiences that empower financial institutions’ customers and employees,” Njay said. “Our AI agents don’t just react — they anticipate needs, providing tailored advice and autonomously guide individuals toward long-term financial wellness.”

Headquartered in Covina, California, interface.ai was founded in 2019.


Photo by Mike Bird

MODIFI Raises $15 Million in Series C Funding

MODIFI Raises $15 Million in Series C Funding
  • Business payments platform MODIFI has secured $15 million in funding.
  • The Series C round was led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund, and featured participation from existing investors Maersk, Intesa SanPaolo, and Heliad.
  • MODIFI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

In a round led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund, B2B Buy Now, Pay Later platform MODIFI has raised $15 million in funding. The Series C round also featured participation from existing investors Maersk, Intesa SanPaolo, and Heliad. In addition to the investment, MODIFI and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly advance digital solutions to support Asia-based SME exporters as they seek to grow their international trade operations. In a statement, the company underscored SMBC’s significant presence in the Asia-Pacific region, noting that SMBC brings capital and strategic alignment to the new relationship.

“The funding underscores the strength of our business and the confidence our investors have in our vision for the future,” MODIFI CEO and Co-founder Nelson Holzner said. “As global commerce evolves, MODIFI is at the forefront, providing innovative solutions that empower businesses to scale and succeed across borders.”

MODIFI, which stands for “Modern Digital Finance,” offers tools and solutions to optimize working capital and streamline cross-border payments. The company integrates advanced risk management with seamless payment processes to help businesses of all sizes expand their international operations. The fresh capital will help accelerate MODIFI’s expansion plans in high-growth markets such as China and India, where the company has already made inroads. A few weeks ago, MODIFI announced a strategic partnership with India’s Gujarat Industry Development Association (GIDA). This spring, the company announced a record year of business growth in China, with a 160x year-over-year increase in funding enabled for Chinese exporters. Together, SMBC and MODIFI plan to empower SMEs with new and innovative cross-border financial solutions via a series of joint initiatives, and to help these firms improve cash flow and expand their international reach.

“Our mission is simple: We empower SMEs to compete and thrive in the global market with fast, flexible, and secure payment solutions,” Holzner said. “With this fresh funding, we’re set to redefine global trade finance — ensuring businesses of all sizes can unlock the liquidity and get the protection they need to grow internationally.”

MODIFI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany. At the conference, the company demonstrated its MODIFI Hub, which enables SMEs using MODIFI’s digital platform to check available limits, manage transactions, and request financing in less than 10 minutes.

Founded in 2018, MODIFI serves more than 1,700 customers in 55+ countries. The company has facilitated more than $3 billion in global trade, and was recognized this year by the Financial Times and Statista as one of the fastest-growing European fintech companies.


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API Platform Speakeasy Raises $15 Million in Series A Funding

API Platform Speakeasy Raises $15 Million in Series A Funding
  • API platform Speakeasy has secured $15 million in Series A funding.
  • The company will use the capital to expand its product offerings, accelerate its roadmap, and hire additional talent.
  • Headquartered in San Francisco, California. Speakeasy made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in New York this year,

In a round led by FPV Ventures, API platform Speakeasy has raised $15 million in Series A funding. Also participating in the investment were Google Ventures (GV) and Quiet Capital. Speakeasy noted that it plans to use the funding to expand its product offerings, accelerate its roadmap, and grow its team.

“Building a really great … modern API is very much undervalued and underestimated at companies,” Speakeasy CEO Sagar Batchu said in a statement on LinkedIn. “Everyone wants to be Stripe or Twilio or GitHub in terms of quality, but to get to that status … takes huge amounts of effort.”

Founded in 2022, Speakeasy offers an API platform designed to give developers the tools they need to build quality, reliable APIs. Concerned over the fact that growing API use among businesses was outpacing the ability of developers to provide them, Speakeasy looks to close the gap with a platform that handles the more cumbersome aspects of API development, freeing developers to focus on higher-order tasks like refining business logic.

Developers can use their favorite API framework to build APIs, and Speakeasy will help ensure APIs adhere to both industry and internal best practices. Speakeasy’s platform automates API testing to avoid shipping unintentional breaking changes, and also automatically generates the SDKs to make API integration easier.

“The Speakeasy team’s past experience building enterprise APIs has given them profound insight into, and empathy for, the struggles engineering teams are facing,” FPV Ventures Managing Partner Wesley Chan said. “They are building a platform that will not only address existing inefficiencies in API development but anticipates future challenges in the ecosystem.”

Speakeasy made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024 in New York. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its technology enables financial institutions to build robust, well-managed, easy-to-use APIs. With Speakeasy’s API platform, technology teams can automate the creation and maintenance of API documentation and client SDKs that facilitate rapid and seamless API integration. Customers using the platform have been able to boost API user adoption, reduce time-to-integration, and save significant engineering costs. In 2024, Speakeasy noted that nearly 3,000 users have generated 7,250 SDKs.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Speakeasy includes fellow Finovate alums Apex Fintech Solutions and Apiture, as well as API companies Kong, Codat, and Shippo, among its customers.


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Fiserv Leads $150 Million Round in Accounts Payable and Receivable Platform Melio

Fiserv Leads $150 Million Round in Accounts Payable and Receivable Platform Melio
  • Melio raised $150 million in a Series E round led by Fiserv.
  • Today’s round values the accounts payable and receivable platform at $2 billion.
  • The company’s 10x revenue growth over the past three years reflects its expansion into medium-sized businesses and new partnerships, significantly broadening its customer base.
  • Melio and Fiserv initially began working together in 2023, when the two launched a combined solution called CashFlow Central.

Accounts payable and receivable platform Melio has landed $150 million in a strategic Series E round led by Fiserv. The investment, which brings the company’s total raised to $654 million, also saw strategic contributions from Shopify Ventures and Capital One Ventures, which are expected to boost Melio’s partnerships. Accel, Bessemer, Coatue, Frontline Ventures, General Catalyst, Latitude, and Thrive Capital also contributed.

Notably, today’s round values Melio at $2 billion. This comes as the New York-based company saw a 10x increase in revenue in the past three years. This growth was fueled by Melio’s move to add medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to its customer base, as well as its addition of new partners.

Melio and Fiserv initially began working together in 2023 in a partnership that combined Melio’s accounts payable and receivable workflows with Fiserv’s payment capabilities and biller and merchant network. The combined solution, called CashFlow Central, allows Fiserv’s 3,500+ financial institution clients to help their SMB customers manage their payment operations and cash flow needs.

“Through our partnership with Melio, CashFlow Central is designed to create significant value for financial institutions and their business clients or members,” said Fiserv Head of Financial Institutions Group John Gibbons. “We are excited to leverage our unique position at the intersection of financial institutions and businesses to deliver a comprehensive, integrated experience that enables our clients to compete and grow their portfolios with this important segment of their communities.”

Melio was founded in 2018 with the mission to empower small businesses and their accountants by enhancing cash flow and streamlining payment operations. The company’s platform simplifies both accounts receivable and accounts payable processes. It allows businesses to manage payments and invoices. Melio integrates with QuickBooks, Xero, and Amazon Business to enable features such as ACH transfers, automated bill payments, and the creation of virtual payment cards. Integrating with a business’ existing accounting tool not only reduces their administrative burden, but it also provides them with greater control, visibility, and flexibility over their finances.

“We’re proud to witness our embedded solution helping our partners better service their business clients, leading to increased deposits, higher engagement and creating new revenue streams,” said Melio CEO and co-founder Matan Bar.


Photo by David Becker on Unsplash

Finix Brings in $75 Million

Finix Brings in $75 Million
  • Finix raised $75 million in a Series C round led by Acrew Capital, with contributions from Citi Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, and other prominent investors.
  • The new funds boost Finix’s total funding to over $208 million.
  • Finix processes 432 million transactions daily across the U.S. and Canada.

Payments processing company Finix has landed $75 million this week. The Series C investment, which brings the company’s total funding to just over $208 million, was led by Acrew Capital and co-led by Leap Global and Lightspeed Venture Partners. New investors Citi Ventures and Tribeca Venture Partners also contributed alongside existing investors Homebrew, Insight Partners, Inspired Capital, and Cap Table Coalition.

Finix was founded in 2015 to help banks, acquirers, and enterprises own, manage, and monetize their payments with a low-code user experience. The company processes 432 million transactions on a daily basis for software platforms, marketplaces, retail, and e-commerce businesses across the U.S. and Canada.

“Finix offers no-code payment solutions for the 22 million businesses without developers, ​​enabling seamless payment integrations with little to no technical expertise,” said Finix CEO and Co-founder Richie Serna. “When we started Finix, we were big believers in the developer movement, and we still are! But over time we’ve seen a major shift in the market. Even businesses that have developers don’t want to spend their time or resources on payments — they want highly brandable, configurable payment solutions that require little to no technical expertise to implement. From startups to publicly traded companies, merchants to vertical SaaS companies, customers of all sizes are taking advantage of Finix’s no-code solutions. Today, every feature in our broad product suite is now available in no-code, low-code and API-driven solutions.”

The funds come at a time of growth for the California-based company. Finix has quadrupled its revenue in the last year. And while the company has not disclosed how many merchants it currently serves, Finix told TechCrunch that it supported more than 12,000 merchants in 2022 and that it has so far closed a record number of merchant deals this year. This growth was likely spurred by Finix becoming a full-stack acquirer processor in May 2023.

As for the next evolution of Finix, Serna said that the company has evolved into a full-stack acquirer/processor. As a testament to this, Finix currently offers real-time payouts, no-code/low-code capabilities, omnichannel support for both card-present and card-not-present transactions, and cross-border payments capabilities.


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U.K.-Based Moneybox Lands $90 Million for its Saving and Investing Platform 

U.K.-Based Moneybox Lands $90 Million for its Saving and Investing Platform 
  • Moneybox raised $90 million (£70 million) in a round led by Apis Global Growth Fund III and Amundi.
  • Today’s investment boosts Moneybox’s total funding to $213.4 million (£165 million).
  • Moneybox has grown rapidly, achieving an 84% increase in valuation since 2022, and will use the funds to further innovation and strengthen its market position.

Savings and investment platform Moneybox landed $90 million (£70 million) today. The round was led by Apis Global Growth Fund III and includes funds from Amundi.

“We are excited to welcome Apis and Amundi, who share our vision for how we can help millions of customers build wealth so they can live the life that they want – whether that’s saving for their first place in their 20s, being their own boss in their 40s, or taking the gap year that they never got round to in their 60s,” said Moneybox Co-founder and Executive Chair Ben Stanway.

Today’s funds boost the U.K.-based company’s total funding to $213.4 million (£165 million). This investment will largely be achieved via a secondary share sale in which existing investors will sell 10% to 15% of the current share capital. 

“We are also delighted to be able to facilitate this secondary share sale to recognize the hard work of our team and also our investors, many of whom have supported us since inception. We want to enable our shareholder community to realize some of the value of their investment at this important juncture,” added Stanway.

Founded in 2015, Moneybox offers investing, saving, pension, and home-buying Lifetime ISA tools in a single app. The company, which currently counts one million users and surpassed £10 billion in assets under administration in 2023, will use today’s funds to further its innovation, build on its growth, and ultimately strengthen its market position.

The investment comes two-and-a-half years after Moneybox’s £35 million ($45 million) Series D round in 2022, which valued the company at $388 million (£300 million). Moneybox has made an impressive acceleration since then, boosting its valuation by 84% to $711 million (£550 million).

“Moneybox is revolutionizing the way people approach personal finance by making saving and investing more accessible and understandable,” said Apis Co-Founder and Managing Partner Matteo Stefanel. “Moneybox’s mission to help everyone save and build wealth for the future aligns with Apis’ democratisation of finance theme and Impact goals, and we’re excited to support the team in this phase of their journey.”


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TrueLayer Lands $50 Million to Grow Pay-by-Bank

TrueLayer Lands $50 Million to Grow Pay-by-Bank
  • TrueLayer secured an additional $50 million in funding, bringing its Series E round total to $180 million.
  • TrueLayer’s valuation has dropped to $700 million from its peak of $1 billion in 2021.
  • Despite the downround, TrueLayer remains optimistic about its future, stating its intentions to work toward profitability.

Open banking platform TrueLayer is proving that it is not just AI companies that are receiving VC investor attention. The London-based company recently received a $50 million extension of its $130 million Series E round.

Today’s follow-on round was led by existing investor Northzone with contributions from Tencent Holdings, Tiger Global, Temasek Holdings, and Stripe. According to Bloomberg, the recent round reportedly values TrueLayer at $700 million, which is notably lower than the $1 billion valuation the company received during its 2021 Series E round.

Despite TrueLayer’s recent raise being a downround—reflecting a valuation drop of $300 million—this trend has been common across the fintech sector in recent years. TrueLayer remains optimistic, viewing the new funding as a vote of confidence in its future growth and ability to achieve profitability. “Separately to this fundraise, we have taken important steps to chart our path toward profitability. This funding is yet another vote of confidence in our company, our technology,” said TrueLayer CEO Francesco Simoneschi.

Founded in 2016, TrueLayer offers an open banking payments network that processes $40 billion across 120 million transactions annually. The company has 10 million users located among 21 European countries. In addition to its payments and payouts products, TrueLayer also offers Signup+, a streamlined onboarding tool, and VRP, its variable recurring payments tool.

TrueLayer appointed its first Chief Strategy Officer, Lisa Scott, earlier this year. The company has raised a total of $321 million. Francesco Simoneschi is Co-founder and CEO.

TrueLayer, which counts Revolut, Coinbase, and Robinhood among its clients, is well-known for facilitating pay-by-bank transactions. Pay-by-bank has seen increased interest among merchants, as they have multiple benefits in comparison to credit card payments. The benefits include fewer fees, faster settlement, and reduced chargebacks. While there has been some movement in pay-by-bank usage in the U.S., pay-by-bank has seen more growth in Europe where open banking is regulated and consumers don’t rely on credit cards as much.


Photo by Michael Kessel

Fidelity Investments Closes $250 Million Venture Capital Fund 

Fidelity Investments Closes $250 Million Venture Capital Fund 
  • Fidelity Investments has launched its first dedicated venture capital fund, Venture Capital Fund I.
  • The $250 million Fund I targets mid-to-late stage companies in technology, media, and telecommunications sectors.
  • The new fund marks a shift from Fidelity’s traditional private market investing, allowing the firm to make direct minority investments and cater to high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and registered investment advisers.

Fidelity Investments recently closed its Venture Capital Fund I LP, or what it is calling Fund I. The $250 million fund– which received support from investors including high net-worth individuals, family offices, and registered investment advisers– held its final closing on September 30.

Fidelity has been investing in private companies for over 15 years, having backed Twilio, Stripe, and even SpaceX. During its decade-and-a-half of investing, Fidelity has deployed over $28 billion across 600 investments in 350 private companies. Historically, the firm has focused on high-growth category disruptors, leveraging its mutual funds to back private companies with notable competitive advantages.

Fidelity Investments Portfolio Manager and Global Head of Private Equity Karin Fronczke emphasized how the launch of the new fund strengthens Fidelity’s already robust track record of investing in private companies. “The success of this fundraise speaks to Fidelity’s legacy investing in private companies. We are grateful for the support from the fund’s limited partners,” she said.

The firm’s introduction of Fund I, however, marks a significant departure from its traditional approach, carving out a more defined venture capital strategy. With Fund I, Fidelity has a dedicated vehicle for direct minority investments and will target mid-to-late stage companies in the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors.

Additionally, the new fund will help Fidelity meet the growing demand from high net-worth individuals, family offices, and registered investment advisers who want more diversification in private market investments. Fidelity’s Fund I is a notable shift towards a specialized venture capital structure that can cater to investors seeking access to high-growth private companies and diversification beyond traditional public markets.

Fund I is already in motion, having invested $31 million in 10 companies spanning industries including aerospace, defense, artificial intelligence, and e-commerce.

Fidelity, which already manages 50 alternative funds, recently launched liquid alternatives ETFs and mutual funds. The firm currently counts $27.8 billion in assets under management in alternatives and $80 billion in alternative investment assets under administration.

This announcement comes at an interesting time for the fintech venture capital funding environment, which is experiencing a notable drought. As Finovate Research Analyst David Penn noted on the blog earlier this week, “According to market intelligence platform Tracxn, funding for U.S.-based tech companies in Q3 of this year fell, both in comparison to the previous quarter as well as when compared to Q3 2023. Tracxn also reported that the number of tech unicorns actually increased this year compared to last year, with 13 new unicorns acknowledged in Q3 2024 compared to just five in Q3 2023.”

However, Fidelity’s optimism in launching a new fund may signal a turning point in the fintech funding landscape. This shift could push more traditional asset managers to create similar venture capital funds, pushing more capital into later-stage fintech firms, a group which has been ignored by investors over the past few years.


Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Six Alums Raised More Than $16 Million in Q3 2024

Six Alums Raised More Than $16 Million in Q3 2024

According to market intelligence platform Tracxn, funding for U.S.-based tech companies in Q3 of this year fell, both in comparison to the previous quarter as well as when compared to Q3 2023. Tracxn also reported that the number of tech unicorns actually increased this year compared to last year, with 13 new unicorns acknowledged in Q3 2024 compared to just five in Q3 2023. And while the report took this as a positive sign that “investor sentiment is stable,” there are other indications that the much-anticipated return to more robust funding trends for tech companies in general, and fintechs in particular, has yet to arrive.

Laura Bock, partner at QED Investors, was quoted in The Financial Brand back in January saying that “53% of fintechs will be cash out by Q3 2024 if they do not raise or exit.” We have a few more days before some of the research firms begin producing their Q3 reports on fintech funding, but clearly expectations are low.

Looking at our own Finovate alum funding for Q3 2024, we see plenty of evidence of the funding drought. In terms of the number of alums that reported receiving funding, as well as the amounts invested, Q3 alum funding for this year is as low as it has been in quite some time.

Previous quarterly comparisons

  • Q3 2023: More than $293 million raised by eight alums
  • Q3 2022: More than $1 billion raised by eight alums
  • Q3 2021: More than $1.1 billion raised by 14 alums
  • Q3 2020: More than $1.2 billion raised by 21 alums

Top equity investments

The top equity investment for Finovate alums in Q3 2024 was the $9 million raised by Illuma Labs. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, and founded in 2016, Illuma Labs debuted at FinovateSpring 2019 and has been a staple of our Spring and Fall conferences ever since. The company won Best of Show at FinovateFall in September for a demo of its Illuma Shield real-time voice authentication solution, now equipped with the latest deepfake detection technology to help prevent account takeover fraud.

Also noteworthy were the fundraisings from two brand-new alums: Dotfile, a regtech based in Paris, France, which debuted at FinovateEurope in February; and Scamnetic, an AI-powered anti-fraud solution provider that first appeared on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall in New York last month.


Here is our detailed alumni funding report for Q3 2024.

July 2024: An undisclosed amount raised by one alum

August: More than $1.3 million raised by two alums

September: More than $15 million raised by three alums

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the third quarter of 2024 and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at research@finovate.com. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.


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French Regtech Dotfile Secures €6M in New Funding

French Regtech Dotfile Secures €6M in New Funding
  • France-based regtech Dotfile has secured $6.7 million (€6 million) in new funding.
  • The round was led by Seaya Ventures. The company’s existing investors Serena and Hexa also participated in the investment.
  • Dotfile made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateEurope 2024 in London.

Fresh off its FinovateEurope debut earlier this year, Paris-based fintech Dotfile has raised $6.7 million (€6 million) in funding. The round was led by Seaya Ventures, and featured participation from the firm’s existing investors Serena and Hexa. In a statement, the regtech innovator indicated that the funding will power its R&D efforts as well as fuel its international expansion plans.

Dotfile leverages AI to enable banks and other financial institutions to automate customer onboarding and ensure compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The company’s business verification platform improves upon the traditionally manual, complex, and expensive Know-Your-Business (KYB) process by aggregating dozens of different data sources to produce a comprehensive picture of a business within 10 seconds.

“More than $200 billion is invested in compliance every year, yet 2% of the world GDP is still going through the money-laundering rinse cycle, which is fueling crime,” Dotfile CEO Vasco Alexandre said. “AI could change how effective those policies are and the positive impact for our societies could be massive.”

The investment in Dotfile comes at a time of growing awareness of the importance of compliance in financial services – and the ability of technology to help banks and other institutions meet these obligations. From banks seeking to maximize opportunities in fintech partnerships to cryptocurrency platforms eager for greater clarity on digital asset regulations, institutions throughout financial services are finding themselves in an increasingly dynamic regulatory environment. To help companies better manage their compliance obligations, a new generation of fintechs such as Dotfile have emerged with tools, workflows, and other solutions–often AI-powered–to streamline and enhance verification, ensure accurate auditability, and reduce costs.

“Compliance is costing banks up to 10% of their revenue, 1 out of 4 employees work in a compliance-related position and existing systems are sometimes more than a decade old,” Alexandre said. “With the competition from fintech intensifying, a transition is bound to happen and generative AI is the tipping point.”

Dotfile made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2024 in London. At the conference, the French regtech demonstrated its end-to-end business verification platform that empowers compliance teams to streamline their operations. The company was founded in 2021 by Alexandre and Titouan Benoit, and received major support from startup studio Hexa (formerly known as eFounders). Today, Dotfile has more than 50 customers across 10 countries, including banks, private equity firms, and fintechs. Most recently, the company announced a partnership with private market investment platform Roundtable, helping the firm improve its KYC process to optimize and accelerate customer onboarding.


Photo by Paul Deetman