Moss hits €1bn unicorn mark on undisclosed Portage Series C
Moss reached a €1 billion valuation on a Portage-led Series C it never sized. Why the cheque, not the unicorn tag, is the signal for European spend management.
Desk
Fintech
Payments, KYC, trading technology and the vendors that sell it to brokers.
327 stories since 2021 · page 10 of 17
August 2026
MultiChoice spin-out Moment raises $22m for Africa payments
Moment, the MultiChoice payments spin-out, has closed a $22m Series A led by AlphaCode Venture Partners, with Canal+ backing the rails billing its own DStv base.
Maximum raises $30m seed to rebuild core banking with AI
Maximum raised a $30m seed led by CRV to build an AI-native bank core the same week 10x Banking took £40m in debt and equity after turning profitable.
Decade raises record $85m seed for AI wealth advice in Brazil
Decade's $85m seed, led by Greenoaks, is Latin America's largest. It lands as Brazil's Selic falls to 14%, resetting the economics of retail wealth advice.
Kraken parent buys Magic’s embedded wallet arm behind 60m wallets
Payward, Kraken's parent, buys Magic Labs' embedded wallet arm behind 60m wallets and 200,000 developers to sell wallets-as-a-service B2B. Terms undisclosed.
Mastercard closes $1.8bn BVNK deal for $30bn stablecoin rail
Mastercard has closed its $1.8bn BVNK acquisition, buying a $30bn annualised stablecoin rail outright - more than four times Visa's organic run rate.
10x Banking raises £40m in debt and equity after turning profitable
10x Banking took £40m from AshGrove in debt and equity after its first profitable year. The structure, not the size, is the core banking reset.
Ambrook raises $30m with half its users new to software
Ambrook's $30m Series B is read as a QuickBooks challenge. Half its 8,000 customers never used accounting software at all — a market-expansion story.
FNZ sells €155bn-custody German bank to Advent consortium
FNZ agrees to sell FNZ Bank and its €155bn of assets under custody to an Advent-led consortium, framing as focus what the balance sheet calls capital relief.
Deluxe Acquires Celero for $625 Million in B2B Payments Consolidation Push
Deluxe closed its $625m Celero Commerce deal at roughly 11x EBITDA, richer than Worldpay's 8.5x. What that says about B2B payments consolidation in 2026.
Visa to buy BioCatch for $2.4bn to stop fraud before payment
Visa is buying behavioural biometrics firm BioCatch for $2.4bn in cash, moving fraud detection upstream of the payment as AI scams cost banks $1trn a year.
Natural rolls out agentic payments rails after $30m round
Natural begins rolling out payments infrastructure built for AI agents after a $30m Series A led by Forerunner - a direct bet against retrofitted card rails.
Stripe’s first employee turns Increase into an FDIC bank
Increase launches an FDIC-member bank from a $75m Washington lender — the clearest post-Synapse verdict on banking-as-a-service: own the charter.
July 2026
InvestiFi raises $20m from the credit unions it serves
InvestiFi's $20m round is led by Vibe Credit Union and seven peers - customers as investors. Inside the credit-union push to reclaim deposits from apps.
Ominimo hits $1.6bn valuation on a $22.5m EBRD-led round
Ominimo raised $22.5m at a $1.6bn valuation, diluting barely 1.4%. The small cheque is the story: a profitable insurtech that does not need the money.
Payfinia taps MAP’s 100 credit unions for embedded payments
Payfinia's MAP deal puts its FedNow and RTP stack in front of 100+ credit unions. Embedded finance's growth edge is the cooperative sector, not platforms.
Ramp opens stablecoin accounts to all customers on Stripe rails
Ramp made stablecoin accounts generally available on July 21, built on Stripe's Bridge and Privy - renting the rails from a direct competitor.
Augustus raises $180m at $1bn to build a stablecoin clearing bank
Augustus raised $180m at a $1bn valuation led by Tiger Global to build an OCC-chartered stablecoin clearing bank - the third charter-backed raise in 90 days.
