Funding

An IPO Alternative: Revolut’s $75 Billion Valuation and $3 Billion Funding Round

An IPO Alternative: Revolut’s $75 Billion Valuation and $3 Billion Funding Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Revolut
  • Revolut is rumored to be raising capital and selling previously repurchased shares at a higher valuation in a creative alternative to going public.
  • Staying private gives Revolut more flexibility as it expands into new markets and adds roughly one million customers every 17 days, without the scrutiny of quarterly earnings reports.
  • The company is likely delaying its IPO until it secures a full UK banking license, but strong investor demand and ample private funding mean Revolut can continue scaling without listing on public markets.

Global banking fintech Revolut is nearing the threshold of two major milestones. The UK-based company is currently seeking to close a $3 billion funding round, marking a $75 billion valuation.

According to Bloomberg, which broke the news, Revolut has spent months putting the round together and has been informing investors about the allocation of shares they’ll receive as part of the oversubscribed round. The investment will bring in cash and offer early backers and employees liquidity.

Revolut declined to comment, but according to people familiar with the matter, Revolut will use the funds as fuel to enter dozens of new markets across the globe in the coming years. Revolut already operates in the European Economic Area (EEA), Australia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK, and the US, as well as a handful of small territories. Expanding its geographical reach will allow Revolut to deepen its customer base, diversify revenue streams, and strengthen its position as a global financial “super app.”

In August, Revolut bought back some of its own shares from existing investors in a tender offer deal that paid investors for their shares based on the company valuation of $45 billion. Revolut is now considering selling some of the same shares it just bought back to new investors. Notably, this sale would be conducted at a much higher valuation of $75 billion, meaning Revolut could profit significantly from the difference. In addition to selling these existing shares, Revolut may also issue new shares to raise new funding which would bring additional cash into the company as opposed to simply transferring ownership of existing shares.

Sources noted that Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky encouraged early employees to sell some of their stock in order to allow the company to offer more shares to eager new investors. Despite this effort, demand was far greater than supply, so many investors could only buy a small amount. This strong demand showcases Revolut’s rising valuation and positions it well for raising more capital.

This complicated song and dance around share shifting may sound more complicated than simply going public. But many analysts argue that an IPO isn’t ideal for Revolut at the moment. The company is expanding rapidly, adding around one million customers every 17 days, and staying private offers it more flexibility to pivot, experiment, and grow without the quarterly pressure and scrutiny that come with being a public company.

Perhaps the biggest aspect holding the company back is that it has not received its full UK banking license. While the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) awarded Revolut a banking license in 2024, it did so with restrictions. Regulators have been reviewing the company’s application for years, and not having a banking license significantly decreases both revenue potential and investor confidence. In fact, going public before securing the license could lower Revolut’s valuation or limit interest from institutional investors.

Fortunately for Revolut, private funding is still plentiful. Since the company was founded in 2015, it has been able to raise a large amount of capital privately, and at valuations similar to or higher than what it may get in public markets.

Photo by cottonbro studio

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Upgrade Raises $165 Million, Sees Valuation Rise to $7.3 Billion

Upgrade Raises $165 Million, Sees Valuation Rise to $7.3 Billion
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Upgrade has raised $165 million in a Series G round, boosting its total funding to $750 million and valuing the fintech at $7.3 billion.
  • Founded by Lending Club pioneer Renaud Laplanche, Upgrade has served 7.5 million customers, facilitated $42 billion in credit, and continues to grow profitably with a multi-product strategy spanning loans, cards, BNPL, and savings tools.
  • The late-stage round positions Upgrade near a potential IPO inflection point, signaling strong investor confidence in alternative lending models and the company’s ability to compete with both challenger and traditional banks.

It’s time for mobile banking and lending fintech Upgrade to get an upgrade of its own. The California-based fintech announced today that it landed a $165 million equity investment to enhance its credit and banking products aimed at retail customers. The round boosts the company’s total funding to $750 million since inception.

The Series G Preferred Round, which was led by Neuberger, indicates that this is a late-stage financing event, given that Upgrade has matured significantly in revenue, consumer adoption, and market presence. LuminArx Capital Management also contributed, and existing shareholders, including DST Global, Ribbit Capital and others, also increased their investment. While this stage and type of round could indicate that Upgrade is preparing for an IPO, it could also signal that the company is planning to delay its IPO, offering liquidity to prepare for a later exit.

According to Upgrade CEO and Co-Founder Renaud Laplanche—who previously founded and led early fintech pioneer Lending Club—Upgrade’s valuation now sits at $7.3 billion.

Founded in 2017, Upgrade is a digital banking platform headquartered in California. The company offers checking and savings accounts, personal loans, credit cards, and rewards programs that focus on low fees and responsible credit usage to help consumers improve their financial lives. Upgrade has served 7.5 million customers and has facilitated over $42 billion in credit with tools such as its Upgrade Card, which encourages customers to pay off balances quickly and avoid revolving debt and build credit responsibly.

In 2024, Upgrade launched the Flex Pay brand, which it rebranded from Uplift. The BNPL tool serves 750 travel and retail brands, helping them to increase their customer engagement, loyalty, and consumer spending by offering more flexible payment options. Upgrade also offers cashback rewards, competitive savings rates, and credit monitoring tools, positioning itself as a customer-friendly alternative to traditional banks.

As part of today’s deal, Neuberger Head of Specialty Finance Peter Sterling is joining Upgrade’s Board of Directors.

“Upgrade presents an unmatched opportunity in fintech,” said Sterling. “As many companies in the space struggle with acquisition costs and monetization strategy, Upgrade has sustained profitable growth through a multi-product, multi-channel strategy that relies on low-cost, proprietary distribution channels to acquire new customers and its ability to monetize users through multiple products. We have known Renaud and the Upgrade founding team for over a decade and are very excited to expand our partnership.”

Upgrade’s growth momentum has continued to build, reflected in several major milestones. The company has surpassed $2 billion in cumulative home improvement financing just three years after launching the product, and has already exceeded $1 billion in auto financing within two years of that product’s debut.

“We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Neuberger and welcome Peter as a new board member,” said Laplanche. “We are planning to use the new equity capital to keep developing new products and expand distribution to achieve our goal of helping more mainstream consumers get the banking and credit products they need today, while improving their financial and credit standing in the long run.”

Upgrade’s raise is a great indication that there is still consumer and investor appetite for alternative consumer lending options. Upgrade has managed to sustain profitable growth while scaling to millions of users. The company’s diversified product lineup positions it to compete with both challenger banks as well as traditional banks. Upgrade’s $7.3 billion valuation, combined with leadership from a seasoned founder who helped define the early fintech era places Upgrade at an IPO inflection point.

Photo by Jungwoo Hong on Unsplash

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Data Privacy Management Software Provider Basis Theory Secures $33 Million

Data Privacy Management Software Provider Basis Theory Secures $33 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Basis Theory, Funding
  • Data management and payments infrastructure company Basis Theory has raised $33 million in Series B funding in a round led by Costanoa Ventures, along with Stage 2 Capital and Moneta VC.
  • The investment, which takes the company’s total capital raised to $50 million, will be used to help expand its payment vault for merchants, as well as fuel the company’s innovations in agentic commerce.
  • Founded in 2020, Basis Theory made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco. Colin Luce is CEO.

Data management innovator Basis Theory has secured $33 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Costanoa Ventures alongside Stage 2 Capital and Moneta VC. The investment also featured participation from existing investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Kindred Ventures, Box Group, and Offline Ventures. The Series B takes Basis Theory’s total capital raised to $50 million, according to Crunchbase.

“This funding represents more than capital,” company Co-Founder and CEO Colin Luce wrote on the Basis Theory blog this week. “It validates our mission of giving merchants control over their payments data and the flexibility to innovate on their own terms.”

Basis Theory lives at the intersection of technology and commerce. The company’s PCI Level 1, SOC2 type II, and ISO 27001-compliant vault offers fintechs and merchants broad flexibility and customization as they build their payment infrastructures and create payment stacks that suit their individual needs. As merchants look for superior ways to manage payment data across a growing number of payment service providers, Basis Theory offers a technology that enables them to tokenize and manage sensitive payment data while maintaining complete control over how that data is accessed both within their own systems as well as when it is shared with third parties. This week’s funding will help Basis Theory expand its enterprise-grade payment vault for merchants around the world, as well as power the company’s work in agentic commerce.

“The payments ecosystem is changing rapidly, and merchants no longer want to be locked into rigid platforms,” Luce said. “We’re giving control back by making payments data as accessible and programmable as any other data type so it can fuel growth, intelligence, and automation across the entire business.”

Basis Theory’s payment vault, which is independent of any payment processor or orchestration layer, also serves as a foundation for agentic commerce and the Agentic Commerce Consortium. Launched last month by Basis Theory, the consortium is a network of more than 20 companies that are collaborating to define the standards and infrastructure that will enable AI agents to become trusted buyers. This will empower merchants to embrace agentic commerce safely and at scale.

In a statement introducing the consortium, Luce acknowledged that other entities have also articulated agentic AI standards, such as Google with its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). At the same time, Luce suggested that the underlying infrastructure must be improved first. “Our view is that we must start by modernizing the existing underlying foundational infrastructure via APIs, but done in a way where AP2 or MCP or KYA or any other protocol can be built on top of or wrapped around it,” Luce wrote. “It’s too early to know which protocols will gain adoption or whether who is behind the protocol will dictate said adoption.”

Founded in 2020, Basis Theory made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022. At the conference, the company introduced its tokenization platform and showed how its data tokenization API offers a developer-first approach to ingesting and managing high-risk data such as credit cards or personally identifiable information (PII). The technology’s use cases extend from fintech, e-commerce, and the creator economy, to subscription platforms, vertical SaaS, and digital health.

Photo by Mark König on Unsplash

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BVNK Lands Funds from Citi Ventures for Stablecoin Infrastructure

BVNK Lands Funds from Citi Ventures for Stablecoin Infrastructure
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • BVNK has received a strategic investment from Citi Ventures, adding to its $90+ million in funding to accelerate its multi-rail payments infrastructure.
  • BVNK has doubled transaction volumes in the past year and is competing with Circle, Ripple, and Stellar networks to bridge fiat and digital assets with enterprise-grade stablecoin settlement solutions.
  • Stablecoins are rapidly becoming core financial infrastructure, with supply surpassing $180 billion and on-chain settlement volumes reaching trillions as businesses seek faster, cheaper cross-border payments.

Multi-rail payments infrastructure platform BVNK announced this week that it has scored a strategic investment from Citi Ventures. The amount of the funds is undisclosed, and adds to the $90+ million in funding BVNK has raised from investors such as Visa, Haun Ventures, Tiger Global, and others.

“Stablecoins are seeing increased interest in use for settlement of on-chain and crypto asset transactions,” said Citi Ventures Head Arvind Purushotham. “We were impressed by BVNK’s enterprise-grade infrastructure, and their proven track record.”

BVNK was founded in 2021 and currently processes over $20 billion each year on behalf of enterprises and payment service providers. The UK-based company leverages stablecoins to enable businesses to move value instantly across borders and networks. Through its partnerships with global licensing bodies and Tier 1 banks, BVNK serves clients such as Worldpay, Deel, and dLocal.

“This investment reinforces our mission to accelerate the global movement of money,” said BVNK Co-Founder and CEO Jesse Hemson-Struthers. “Our platform enables companies to harness stablecoins to move money quickly across borders and launch innovative financial products with enterprise-ready security and compliance.”

Citi Ventures’ strategic investment comes as stablecoins are working their way to becoming a key piece of financial infrastructure. The total supply of stablecoins has exceeded $180 billion in 2025, with on-chain settlement volumes now reaching trillions of dollars each year as businesses make the swap to faster, cheaper alternatives to traditional banking.

This surge has helped to fuel BVNK, which has doubled its transaction volumes in the past year and has expanded its partnerships across the globe. The fintech’s biggest rivals, which include Circle, Ripple, and Stellar-powered payment networks, are all seeking to build top-tier infrastructure that bridges the gap between fiat and digital assets. Citi’s financial and strategic support will help BVNK differentiate itself in the race to build the enterprise-grade, multi-rail payments platform needed to make stablecoin settlement a mainstream tool for global commerce.

Photo by Brett Sayles

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Offset Labs Secures Pre-Seed Funding in Round Led by Archangel Ventures

Offset Labs Secures Pre-Seed Funding in Round Led by Archangel Ventures
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Byne, Funding, Offset Labs
  • AI defense startup Offset Labs has secured €600k ($804k) in pre-seed funding in a round led by Archangel Ventures and featuring participation from Amadeus Capital Partners and Seven Capital.
  • The funding takes the company’s total capital raised to more than $1.1 million, according to Crunchbase.
  • As Byne, the company made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateEurope 2025 in London.

UK-Ukrainian AI defense venture Offset Labs, which rebranded from Byne earlier this year, has raised €600k ($804k) in pre-seed funding in a round led by Archangel Ventures. Amadeus Capital Partners and Seven Capital also participated in the investment. The funding takes Offset Labs total funding to more than $1.1 million, according to Crunchbase.

“This funding marks an important milestone in our mission: to build the first AI Lab creating frontier models specifically tailored to the needs of defence and national security customers,” the company noted on its LinkedIn page. “We believe that achieving this vision requires uniting talent, data, and computing infrastructure under one roof. Only with this integrated approach can we deliver the breakthrough—the ‘ChatGPT moment’—for mission-relevant AI and sustain a decisive qualitative offset in the decade ahead.”

With a team split between London and Kyiv, Offset Labs is a bi-national security laboratory that has designed and deployed AI models for signal and voice processing in operational environments. The investment is expected to accelerate the company’s development of what it refers to as a “decisive AI advantage” for NATO and its allies. As its name implies, Offset Labs is focused on the idea of an “offset” or strategic leap forward that provides one side a significant advantage in the balance of power.

The company believes that AI is the next likely area for an offset, but insists that in order for Western countries to make this happen, firms will have to embrace an integration of data, research, and talent at scale. This is where Offset Labs comes in, “to bring everything from data curation to research under one roof and unlock deep AI innovation for defense customers, ensuring Western leadership in this critical domain.”

As Byne, the company made its Finovate debut in February at FinovateEurope 2025. At the conference, the startup’s co-founder and CEO Borys Nadykto demonstrated how the technology enables users to create secure Large Language Model (LLM) agents for enterprise use. Designed to manage the tension between productivity gains and data security when using AI tools like ChatGPT, Byne’s technology empowers companies to host LLM applications within their secure perimeter (on-premise or private cloud) to ensure safe handling of sensitive data and integration with internal systems.

Headquartered in London, the company was founded as Byne in 2022 by Nadykto, Denys Budnyk, and Andrii Yakovyna. Byne announced its rebrand to Offset Labs earlier this year.

Photo by vackground.com on Unsplash

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Feedzai Raises $75 Million; Partners with ECB to Safeguard Digital Euro

Feedzai Raises $75 Million; Partners with ECB to Safeguard Digital Euro
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Feedzai, Funding
  • Fraud and financial crime prevention platform Feedzai has secured $75 million in funding at a valuation of $2 billion.
  • The company also announced that the European Central Bank (ECB) has selected it as the first-ranked provider for fraud and risk management for the digital euro, slated to be launched by 2029.
  • Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Portugal, Feedzai made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2014.

In a big start to the month of October, fraud and financial crime prevention platform Feedzai has announced both a major funding round and a deal with the European Central Bank (ECB) to safeguard the digital euro.

First up, the funding. Feedzai has secured $75 million in a round that featured participation from new institutional investors Lince Capital, Iberis Capital, and Explorer Investments, as well as existing investors Oxy Capital and Buenavista Equity Partners. The funding, which takes Feedzai’s total capital raised to more than $352 million according to Crunchbase, gives the Portugal-based fintech a valuation of $2 billion.

In a statement, Lince Capital CEO Vasco Pereira Coutinho praised Feedzai for its use of AI and the company’s “end-to-end approach to risk operations.” Coutinho also underscored Feedzai’s ability to “execute across multiple product lines while scaling globally.”

Feedzai CEO and Co-Founder Nuno Sebastião spoke to the strong pace of innovation in the fraud prevention space, and pointed to the importance of future-proofing financial crime fighting technology. “This new investment round enables us to continue driving innovation to defend against whatever comes next, so that every form of payment, even those yet to be imagined, can be trusted and adopted safely,” Sebastião said.

Second, the ECB deal. The same day that Feedzai announced its major funding, the company also reported that the European Central Bank (ECB) has selected it as the first-ranked tenderer in its framework agreement to provide the central fraud detection and prevention solution for the to-be-launched digital euro. The framework agreement outlines the providers for five different digital euro components and related services: alias lookup, risk and fraud management, app and software development kit, offline solutions, and secure exchange of payment information. Feedzai is one of two providers in the risk and fraud management component; Capgemini Deutschland is the designated second provider. Service requests, according to the framework, will be initially directed to first-rank providers with second-rank providers contacted only as needed.

The framework agreement for the risk and fraud management component for the digital euro has been valued at €79.1 million ($92.8 million), with a maximum value of €237.3 million ($277.3 million). For its part, Feedzai is partnering with subcontractor PwC to deliver a state-of-the-art central fraud detection and prevention mechanism that complies with EU security, privacy, and data protection standards.

“Being selected as the first-ranked tenderer in the framework agreement to secure the digital euro is both an honor and a responsibility,” Feedzai’s Sebastião said. “With tens of billions of transactions expected across the eurozone, success depends on AI that can adapt as quickly as fraud evolves. Our role is to provide the intelligence that keeps even the most sophisticated fraud out, ensuring trust in every digital euro transaction from day one.”

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, Feedzai made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2014. Today, the company defends 900 million people in 190 countries from fraud with an end-to-end financial crime prevention platform that features AI-native solutions. Over the past year, Feedzai has launched a number of key products including its Feedzai Orchestration and Feedzai IQ, which empower financial institutions to make better, faster risk assessments. Feedzai has also introduced the TRUST Framework to embed fairness, explainability, and security into every component of GenAI model development.

In April, Feedzai acquired data management platform and fellow Finovate alum DemystData in a deal valued at $157 million.

Photo by Vita Marija Murenaite on Unsplash

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Nine Alums Raised More Than $566 Million in Q3 2025

Nine Alums Raised More Than $566 Million in Q3 2025
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Quarterly Funding

The rebound in fintech funding that we’ve been looking for over the past few weeks earned further confirmation today after our review of the funding totals for companies that have demoed on the Finovate stage.

Nine alums have raised more than $566 million in the third quarter of 2025. This figure is the highest funding total for alums in a Q3 since 2022. In fact, given that the amounts of the investments in two instances this quarter (the fundraisings by AKUVO and Argyle) were not disclosed, it is likely that this year’s Q3 total is more than double the amount raised in the third quarter of 2023.

Previous quarterly comparisons

  • Q3 2024: More than $16 million raised by six alums
  • 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

While this quarter’s tally falls short of the billion-plus we’ve seen in many third quarters in the past (2022-2019, 2017, and 2015 for example), the sizable figure is still a hopeful sign heading into the final quarter of the year that fintech funding is on the way back.

Top equity investments

The top equity investment for Finovate alums in Q3 2025 was far and away the $300 million announced by Quavo Fraud & Disputes in July. In fact, Quavo’s fundraising total represents more than half of the total quarterly funding for alums in Q3 2025.

Quavo’s growth equity investment came from Spectrum Equity and empowered the company, in the words of Co-Founder and CEO Joseph McLean, to “accelerate our AI-led product development initiatives and expand our go-to-market and client success teams to meet growing market demand.” The investment took the company’s total capital raised to $311 million, according to Crunchbase.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Quavo provides fraud and dispute management solutions to companies ranging from global issuers and fintechs to regional banks and credit unions. The company most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2025.

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q3 2025.

July 2025: $300 million raised by one alum

August 2025: More than $86 million raised by two alums

September 2025: More than $180 million raised by six alums

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the third quarter of 2025, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

Photo by Ian Talmacs on Unsplash

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Verification Specialist Argyle Announces Strategic Investment from Mastercard

Verification Specialist Argyle Announces Strategic Investment from Mastercard
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Argyle, Funding, MasterCard
  • Verification platform Argyle announced a strategic investment round that featured participation from Mastercard, Bain Capital Ventures, Checkr, Rockefeller Asset Management, and SignalFire.
  • The investment follows Argyle’s launch of verification of assets powered by Mastercard’s open finance technology earlier this year.
  • New York-based Argyle made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco. Shmulik Fishman is Co-Founder and CEO.

Consumer-powered verification platform Argyle announced a strategic investment round that featured participation from Mastercard as well as existing investors Bain Capital Ventures, Checkr, Rockefeller Asset Management, and SignalFire. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

“This investment is more than capital—it’s validation,” Argyle CEO and Co-Founder Shmulik Fishman said. “We’re deepening our ability to serve customers with a comprehensive verification platform built on real-time payroll connections and open finance capabilities. By combining these strengths, we’re eliminating friction from verification workflows and giving lenders, fintechs, and tenant screeners a smarter path to faster, more accurate decisions.”

Argyle’s investment announcement comes a year and a half after the company reported securing $30 million in Series C funding. That round was led by Rockefeller Asset Management’s Fintech Innovation Fund. This week’s investment also follows Argyle’s launch of verification of assets powered by Mastercard open finance technology in June of this year. This new offering enables Argyle customers to access real-time consumer-permissioned payroll connections covering 90% of the US workforce. Customers are also now able to generate GSE-compliant reports—including verification of income (VOI), verification of employment (VOE), verification of assets (VOA), and combined verification of assets/income (VOAI)—from a single platform.

Argyle noted that the investment is a sign of growing demand for consumer-permissioned verifications. In a statement, the company highlighted a series of recent partnership accomplishments, including Checkr’s ability to reduce verification timelines from days to seconds at 90% lower cost compared to legacy solutions, Regional Finance’s success in automating verifications for more than 65% of borrowers, and Mutual of Omaha’s saving of more than $50,000 per month on verification costs.

“Argyle has built critical infrastructure for a category that’s long been overlooked by modern fintech,” Bain Capital Ventures partner Ajay Agarwal said. “We’ve supported the company from the early stages, and this latest round reflects our continued belief in their team, their momentum, and the long-term potential of consumer-permissioned data to transform verifications across financial services.”

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in New York, Argyle made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022. At the conference, the company demonstrated its Link 4.0 design update, which provides a more transparent and trustworthy experience for customers when linking their accounts.

Photo by Pixabay

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Spend Management Firm Extend Secures $20 Million in Funding

Spend Management Firm Extend Secures $20 Million in Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Extend, Funding
  • New York-based spend management platform Extend has secured $20 million in combined debt and equity funding.
  • The equity investment was led by B Capital and featured participation from March Capital, Point72 Ventures, FinTech Collective, and Commerce Ventures.
  • Extend made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2019 in San Francisco, California.

Spend and expense management platform Extend has raised $20 million in funding. The amount includes new venture debt and an equity investment led by B Capital. Also participating in the equity side of the deal were March Capital, Point72 Ventures, FinTech Collective, and new investor Commerce Ventures.

“We just took another step toward reshaping how businesses manage spend and expenses: We secured $20 million in new funding and welcomed Francois Horikawa as our CFO,” the company noted on its LinkedIn page. “Finance teams deserve modern tools layered onto their existing bank card programs. This investment will help us do that by strengthening our issuer partnerships and accelerating the delivery of new spend and expense management features to better serve businesses.”

Extend offers businesses the ability to control and manage spending with the company credit card they already use. Extend’s platform enables companies to create both standard and recurring virtual cards and manage them from either the Extend mobile app or its web-based platform. The virtual cards come with configurable spend controls such as card limits and expiration dates. The platform also can be used to create guest cards to send directly to vendors and contractors that do not have Extend accounts. The firm is currently implementing solutions that leverage automation to manage approvals, capture receipts, and reconcile expenses.

“This funding represents a pivotal moment for Extend as we accelerate our path to profitability and launch our paid SaaS offering,” Extend CEO and Co-Founder Andrew Jamison said. “With strong backing from B Capital and our investor group, we’re building a comprehensive spend and expense management platform while maintaining our focus on capital efficiency and deepening our relationships across the banking ecosystem.”

Extend’s funding announcement arrived at the same time that the firm introduced new Chief Financial Officer Francois Horikawa. Horikawa was previously Head of Finance for PayPal’s Consumer business division, which includes Venmo, P2P, Cards, and Small Business Lending. In his new role as CFO, he will be charged with helping Extend achieve operational excellence and sustainable profitability.

“I joined Extend almost by accident,” Horikawa wrote on LinkedIn this week. “I knew one of the co-founders and a few other folks from American Express. Few months in, people are super nice, the culture is great, and I am excited about the product!”

Founded in 2017, Extend made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2019 in San Francisco, California. In the years since then, the New York-based fintech has grown into an out-of-the-box virtual card issuing platform with more than 10,000 business customers. The company’s technology has helped its customers move between 26% and 40% of their spending to virtual cards, and more than a dozen major banks in both the US and Canada are using Extend’s technology. Extend is currently pursuing strategic integrations at the top 10 banks and with a range of smaller issuers.

Photo by Pixabay

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ID.me Raises $340 Million at a $2 Billion Valuation

ID.me Raises $340 Million at a $2 Billion Valuation
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, ID.me
  • ID.me raised $340 million in a Series E investment plus a credit facility, which boosts its valuation to over $2 billion and brings its total funding to $1.1 billion.
  • The funding will accelerate secure, reusable digital identity solutions and combat AI-driven fraud, which cost the US up to $521 billion annually.
  • ID.me now counts 152 million users, totaling 60% of US adults, with adoption across 20 federal agencies, 45 states, and 600+ brands.

Digital identity network ID.me revealed this week that it has raised $340 million in a Series E financing round plus a credit facility. The round values ID.me at more than $2 billion. 

Ribbit Capital led the investment, while existing investors Ares Credit Funds and Moonshots Capital, as well as new investors, including Positive Sum, also participated. ID.me will use the funding to accelerate its mission to expand access to secure, reusable digital identity and to stop AI-driven fraud.

The funds, which bring ID.me’s total raised to $1.1 billion, come at a time of rising fraud across the globe. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the US government lost up to $521 billion annually to fraud between 2018 and 2022. The increase in fraud is fueled by stolen identities and deepfakes, both of which are increasing vulnerabilities faster than ever.

“Fraud is evolving at the speed of AI—and so are we,” said ID.me Founder and CEO Blake Hall. “Secure identity is foundational to AI ecosystems that will depend on memory, context, and authentication, and ID.me is leading the charge. This funding strengthens our ability to expand secure digital access, protect privacy, and innovate faster to stay ahead of criminal networks.”

ID.me was founded in 2010 to serve as a digital identity wallet that helps users prove and share their identities online without disclosing additional personal information. The company maintains a digital identity network that includes 20 federal agencies, 45 state agencies, and 600+ retail brands, all of which use ID.me to verify customers’ identities and affiliations. ID.me’s ID wallet helps users prove they belong to certain affiliated groups, such as teachers, students, first responders, or military veterans.

Last year, ID.me added 20.4 million new wallets, which breaks down to over 55,000 each day. That same year, it also powered more than 409 million successful logins, representing a 44% increase year-over-year. In total, ID.me counts 152 million users, representing nearly 60% of adults in the US.

“We believe the AI revolution will reshape the global economy, and identity will be its foundation,” said Ribbit Capital General Partner Justin Saslaw. “As AI agents become ubiquitous, trusted identity tokens will enable secure, seamless interactions between people, organizations, and machines. ID.me has built one of the most advanced and widely adopted digital identity wallets in the world, giving it a durable advantage in creating and scaling the identity tokens that will power this new era. We’re excited to partner with Blake and the ID.me team as they expand their leadership in the token-driven AI economy.”

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Klarna Lands $26 Billion Scalable Funding Round

Klarna Lands $26 Billion Scalable Funding Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding, Klarna
  • Klarna has secured a $26 billion funding deal with Nelnet to expand its Pay in 4 product in the US, diversifying capital sources beyond banks and securitizations.
  • The multi-year agreement provides off-balance-sheet funding, giving Klarna predictable access to capital at scale and strengthening its long-term growth strategy.
  • The deal bolsters Klarna’s IPO story as it postures for public markets amid rising BNPL regulation and credit risk.

IPO hopeful BNPL company Klarna revealed today that it has closed an agreement with investment firm Nelnet, which will support the expansion of Klarna’s Pay in 4 product in the US.

Under the multi-year agreement, Nelnet will purchase Klarna’s US Pay in 4 loans on an ongoing basis over the life of the program, up to $26 billion in total payment volume. In addition to diversifying Klarna’s funding sources beyond banks and securitizations, the transaction is expected to power the company’s US growth and support its long-term capital strategy.

“This is a landmark transaction for Klarna in the US,” said Klarna CFO Niclas Neglén. “Our partnership with Nelnet allows us to scale a core product responsibly, while continuing to deliver smooth, interest-free payment experiences to millions of consumers.”

Klarna notes that the structure of the funding arrangement will offer predictable, off-balance-sheet funding and showcase its ability to structure and execute large-scale capital markets transactions. The Swedish-based company will continue to originate and service all of its receivables under the program.

“Nelnet is thrilled to work with Klarna on this important transaction and support their continued success,” said Nelnet Financial Services Chief Investment Officer Judd Deppisch. “This strategic partnership leverages our expertise and financial strength to invest in attractive cash-flowing assets while supporting Klarna’s valuable offering to U.S. consumers, with the support of our lending partners.”

This comes as Klarna has been positioning itself to go public. While the company postponed its IPO plans earlier this year, it has partnered with Clover for in-store BNPL, signed an agreement to serve as Walmart’s BNPL provider, and teamed up with Marqeta on a debit card. Additionally, Klarna reached 100 million active consumers in April 2025. 

For Klarna, today’s deal with Nelnet provides a critical pillar in its IPO story. The stable access to capital at scale signals to investors that Klarna has the key to sustaining growth while navigating BNPL’s rising regulatory and credit risks. Additionally, the structured, off-balance-sheet arrangement signals Klarna’s intent to present itself as more bank-like and responsible ahead of its IPO.

Photo by Aurelijus U.

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Casca Raises $29 Million Series A for AI Loan Origination

Casca Raises $29 Million Series A for AI Loan Origination
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Funding
  • Casca has raised a $29 million Series A round led by Canapi Ventures, with participation from major bank customers including Live Oak, Huntington, and Bankwell.
  • Today’s investment comes just 15 months after its pre-seed round and brings Casca’s total funding to $33 million.
  • Casca’s AI-powered loan origination platform helps smaller financial institutions compete with fintechs and large banks by accelerating loan processing, reducing costs, and keeping capital within local communities.

AI loan origination company Casca (formerly known as Cascading AI) announced a $29 million fundraising round today. The California-based company said that the round, which was led by Canapi Ventures, will help it to redefine business lending.

The company’s flagship customers, including Live Oak Bank, Huntington National Bank, and Bankwell Bank all invested in today’s round. Bankwell, Y Combinator, and Peterson Ventures multiplied their investments from the pre-seed raise. Alliance Funding Group participated as well.

“Casca simplifies and accelerates our lending processes while equipping us with the insights needed to build lasting relationships,” said Live Oak Bancshares CEO and chairman Chip Mahan. “The tangible value Casca has demonstrated gives us confidence to invest in their future.”

Today’s round comes just 15 months after Casca’s pre-seed raise and brings its total funding to $33 million. Casca said it will use the investment to scale its operations, expand its team, and accelerate go-to-market efforts and make its platform more accessible to financial institutions.

“Casca stands out in many ways,” said Canapi Ventures Co-Founder and General Partner Neil Underwood. “They’ve worked alongside top AI researchers and within banks themselves to simplify business lending using responsible AI and bank-grade underwriting. With Casca, local financial institutions become the lender of choice—offering more affordable rates and keeping capital within the community. It’s a big step for banking, and we’re proud to be part of it.”

Casca leverages AI to speed up the loan application and origination process. The company was founded in 2023 and its loan origination platform is used by leading SBA lenders and FDIC-Insured banks. At Casca’s first FinovateSpring demo in 2024, it won Best of Show honors. The company most recently demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2025 where it showed automated document collection that can save loan officers 20 hours a week, AI that reads 10,000 pages in 5 minutes, instant pre-qualification that accepts applications after business hours, digital account opening, and a voice assistant that can intelligently discuss loan files in real-time.

“We’re driven to be a force for good, using technology to make capital more accessible to small businesses and fueling the American Dream,” said Casca CEO and CoFounder Lukas Haffer. “Partnering with the top SBA lenders and key industry players, we’ve built a platform that fully automates commercial loans in record time, setting a new industry standard. This is a game changer, and now we are ready to scale responsibly, reaching more institutions with the white-glove service our clients.”

Today’s raise is a nod to how AI is becoming standard and is now central to how banks win small business relationships. By shaving weeks off loan processing, Casca gives local banks a competitive edge in retaining small business borrowers who might otherwise turn to fintechs or big banks who can offer speed.

Photo by James Wheeler

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