F
or private financial technology companies, last year was a quiet one for fundraising. Fintechs raised $34 billion in 2024, down from $42 billion in 2023 and an all-time high of $144 billion in 2021, reports CB Insights.
Yet a large group of young companies, some founded as much as a decade ago, started to hit their stride in 2024, showing impressive innovation and fast growth. On our 2025 Fintech 50 list, 18 of the 50 winners had never before made the cut.
The Payments category claimed the most first-timers, with six. DailyPay, led by former marketing executive Stacy Greiner, who became CEO last year, lets employees access their wages right after they’ve earned them. The 10-year-old company counts more than 1,000 businesses, including Hilton and Kroger, as customers, and last year it expanded to become available to more than five million employees.
San Francisco-based Highnote, another newcomer, makes software that lets businesses issue customizable debit and credit cards, and it more recently launched a product that helps businesses accept online credit and debit payments, putting it in competition with companies like Stripe. It raised $90 million in new funding at a valuation of more than $750 million in January 2025. Squire, a New York company led by former lawyer Songe LaRon, helps barbershops do everything from schedule appointments to accept payments; last year it processed $740 million in transactions, up from $590 million in 2023.
In our Business to Business Banking category, which had three-first timers, Arc is a commercial bank specializing in private credit. It has a lending platform that uses AI to convert raw data into credit metrics and provides cash management and treasury products to businesses. In 2024, it processed $4 billion in loan applications and more than doubled its cash management account customers to 2,500. Parafin is a small business lender founded by three former Robinhood data scientists. It uses data from marketplaces like Walmart, DoorDash and Amazon to underwrite loans, instead of relying on credit scores or personal guarantees from the owners. In 2024, Parafin reached 25,000 borrowers, and its revenue more than doubled to $75 million.
Our Wall Street and Enterprise category also had three companies making their debut on the Fintech 50. Brico, founded by former consultant and fintech product manager Snigdha Kumar, helps fintechs and other nonbank financial players automate the cumbersome state-by-state licensing process and other regulatory requirements. It has landed customers like card issuer Marqeta and Bilt, a consumer credit card startup that also made its debut on our list this year (in the personal finance category).
Another first-timer, fraud prevention firm DataVisor, was cofounded by Chinese immigrants Yinglian Xie and Fang Yu, both with U.S. PhDs in computer science. It uses patented machine learning algorithms to flag fraudulent payments and grew its revenue 67% in 2024, reaching $50 million. Zip makes software that organizes and orchestrates the complex processes of procurement, visualizing the steps necessary for a business to complete a purchase. Just four years after its founding, Zip reached a $2.2 billion valuation last fall, and its customers include OpenAI, Snowflake and Prudential.
Real estate was our smallest category on the list this year, with just two companies making the cut overall. Yet even with high interest rates creating a tough environment for real estate, one was a first-timer. Newcomer Aven issues home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) that can be tapped via a credit card. With consumers’ homes as collateral, the company’s cards offer a lower interest rate than on normal, unsecured credit cards, while its data and tech shrink the normal HELOC approval time. The billion-dollar company launched in 2020 after CEO Sadi Khan spent 18 months developing the product. It has more than 30,000 customers and hit $200 million in revenue on an annualized basis in 2024.
Across all categories, lending businesses seem to be making a comeback from years ago, when they were often maligned by industry investors and CEOs. Among our 18 first-timers, six are lenders, including Arc, Aven, Bilt, Figure, Imprint and Parafin.
Below are the 18 newcomers that made our list this year:
Arc
Headquarters: San Francisco, California.
Arc is a neo-commercial bank specializing in private credit and relies on artificial intelligence instead of traditional analysts. It offers two core services: commercial banking, which provides cash management and treasury solutions, and a capital markets platform that uses AI to convert raw data into credit metrics. These metrics are shared with a network of lenders, including private credit funds and banks. With its more efficient, AI-reliant model, Arc charges about 1% for debt offerings, compared to the 3% to 5% charged by traditional banks. In 2024, Arc processed over $4 billion in loan applications; its largest deal was $200 million and average loans were in the tens of millions.
Funding: $31 million from Bain Capital Ventures, NFX and Left Lane, among others.
Latest valuation: $105 million.
Date of last valuation: June 30, 2022.
Bona fides: In 2024, it more than doubled its cash management account customers to 2,500.
Founders: Don Muir, CEO, 32, a Stanford MBA who started his career at Boston Consulting Group; President Nick Lombardo, 33, a Stanford MBA who worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse before moving into private equity at AEA Investors.
Aven
Headquarters: Campbell, California.
Aven issues home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) that can be tapped via a credit card. With consumers’ homes as collateral, the company’s cards offer a lower interest rate than on normal, unsecured credit cards, while its data and tech shrink the normal HELOC approval time. The application process can be completed in minutes, and the cards typically arrive within a week. Typical customers are high earners who make over $100,000 and have high credit scores. The billion-dollar company launched in 2020 after CEO Sadi Khan spent 18 months developing the product.
Funding: $288 million from Khosla Ventures, Caffeinated Capital and Max Levchin, among others.
Latest valuation: $1 billion.
Date of last valuation: April 2024.
Bona fides: The company has more than 30,000 customers and hit $200 million in revenue on an annualized basis in 2024.
Cofounders: CEO Sadi Khan, 39; Murtada Shah, 43; and Collin Wikman, 37. Khan spent over a decade at Microsoft and Meta before launching Aven in 2020.
Bilt Rewards
Headquarters: New York, New York.
Founded in 2021, the credit card startup lets U.S. renters earn perks like airline miles on their rent payments. Renters of 4.5 million apartment units can earn Bilt points on rent payments, and the company processed over $36 billion in transactions in 2024.
Funding: $550 million from General Catalyst, Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan and Left Lane Capital, among others.
Latest valuation: $3.2 billion.
Date of last valuation: August 2024.
Bona fides: In 2024, Bilt’s revenue grew to about $275 million, up from $116 million in 2023, while its customer base expanded from 1.6 million to 3.5 million.
Founder: CEO Ankur Jain, 35, who previously launched multiple startups in industries ranging from real estate to childcare.
Brico
Headquarters: San Francisco, California.
Brico’s platform helps fintechs and other nonbank financial players, including lenders, money transmitters and debt collectors, automate the cumbersome state-by-state licensing process and keep up with renewals, reporting requirements and regulatory changes. The startup frames its goals in ambitious terms: It wants to be the TurboTax of state-by-state licensing. While it was only founded in 2023, the company already has 30 customers.
Funding: $8 million from Restive Ventures, Cambrian Ventures, Pear VC and Flourish Ventures, among others.
Latest valuation: $30 million.
Date of last valuation: July 2024.
Bona fides: In less than two years, Brico has landed customers such as Funding Circle, Empower, Bilt and Marqeta.
Cofounders: CEO Snigdha Kumar, 33, former head of product operations at Digit (now Oportun) and CTO Edward Swiac, 35, a software engineer with experience at Marqeta, Twitter and Expedia.
DailyPay
Headquarters: New York, New York.
DailyPay aims to give employees real-time access to their wages immediately after they’ve earned them. Workers can choose from three disbursement options: free next-day ACH transfers, instant transfers to the DailyPay card or immediate transfers to third-party accounts for a $3.49 fee. It has a client base of over 1,000 businesses, including companies like Target, Hilton and Kroger. The company earns revenue through its instant-transfer fees and interchange fees from its DailyPay card. In the fall of 2024, DailyPay launched in the U.K.
Funding: $330 million from RPM Ventures, Carrick Capital Partners and Inspiration Ventures, among others.
Latest valuation: $1.75 billion.
Date of last valuation: January 2024.
Bona fides: In 2024, 5.2 million employees were eligible to receive DailyPay’s earned wage services, up from 4.6 million the year prior.
Founder: Jason Lee, 47, a former investment banker who left DailyPay in 2022 and went on to found earned wage access startup Salt Lab, which Chime acquired in 2024.
CEO: Stacy Greiner, 51, an MIT MBA who previously held roles in sales and marketing at Dun and Bradstreet, Cisco and IBM.
DataVisor
Headquarters: Mountain View, California.
DataVisor uses patented machine learning algorithms to flag fraudulent payments, wire transfers and loan applications, specializing in detecting connections between users to expose coordinated fraud rings. Its technology flags suspicious transactions in milliseconds, blocking or delaying them from going through and communicating with users in real time. Its platform can analyze 15,000 transactions per second, and its 50 customers include SoFi, Affirm and Marqeta.
Funding: $100 million from Brighton Park Capital, NewView Capital and GSR Ventures, among others.
Latest valuation: $260 million, according to Pitchbook.
Date of last valuation: December 2022.
Bona fides: Increased revenue by 67% in 2024 to $50 million and added 10 new customers.
Cofounders: CEO Yinglian Xie, 48, and chief product officer Fang Yu, 46, both immigrated from China to earn computer science PhDs in the U.S. and worked together at Microsoft for seven years before starting DataVisor in 2013.
Figure
Headquarters: New York, New York.
Cofounded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, Figure uses technology to speed up the process of getting a home equity line of credit (HELOC). It also has a customized blockchain platform that tokenizes (i.e., securitizes) and sells HELOCs to yield-hungry investors through its own private credit marketplace. Figure’s revenue grew by more than 50% in 2024 to $321 million, up from $196 million in 2023, with a 55% gross profit margin. Some 70% of its 150,000 clients have come through its more than 200 fintech and mortgage banking partners, including real estate platforms such as RATE (formerly Guaranteed Rate) and Intuit’s Credit Karma. In April, Michael Tannenbaum, a former Brex executive, became CEO and Cagney became executive chair.
Funding: $500 million from Apollo, Morgan Creek and Ribbit, among others.
Latest valuation: $3.2 billion.
Date of last valuation: May 2021.
Bona fides: Its software has been used to originate more than $13 billion of HELOCs.
Cofounders: Executive chair Mike Cagney, 53; June Ou, 59, previously president and now an advisor.
CEO: Michael Tannenbaum, who previously held roles as chief revenue officer at SoFi and chief operating officer at Brex before joining Figure in 2024.
Highnote
Headquarters: San Francisco, California.
Founded in 2020, Highnote’s first product was card-issuing software that lets businesses quickly issue customizable debit and credit cards, similar to the services offered by Marqeta. It later released software that allows businesses to accept online credit and debit payments, known as acquiring, putting it in competition with companies like Stripe. In January 2025, Highnote raised $90 million in new funding at a valuation of more than $750 million.
Funding: $154 million.
Latest valuation: More than $750 million.
Date of last valuation: January 2025.
Bona fides: It has 50 customers, including BNY Mellon and fintech startup Mudflap, and reached $81 million in annualized gross revenue at the end of 2024.
Cofounders: CEO John MacIlwaine, 55, who previously worked as general manager of PayPal-owned payment processor Braintree; CTO Kin Kee, 57, who was the director of architecture at Braintree.
Imprint
Headquarters: New York, New York.
Imprint makes software that helps other businesses launch, manage and operate co-branded credit cards. Its clients include companies like H-E-B (Texas’s largest grocery retailer), Brooks Brothers and Turkish Airlines. Imprint says it has built its technology in-house with the goal of giving brands more control over their rewards programs.
Funding: $225 million from Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital and Ribbit Capital, among others.
Latest valuation: $600 million.
Date of last valuation: October 2024.
Bona fides: By the end of 2024, Imprint had booked over 400,000 accounts, up from 100,000 in 2023.
Cofounders: CEO Darragh Murphy, 35, a former lawyer and McKinsey consultant; chairman Gaurav Ahuja, 32.
Increase
Headquarters: Bend, Oregon.
Increase helps tech companies store, move and manage money. Founded by Darragh Buckley, Stripe’s first employee, it connects banks and fintechs directly to established payment rails like Visa and the Federal Reserve’s Fedwire and FedACH. Increase focuses on the final step of payments, giving users better visibility into fund flows, thereby improving reliability. Its clients include small and midsized banks and such fintechs as Ramp, Check and Pipe.
Funding: No outside funding.
Bona fides: Reached 4,500 customers in 2024, up from 3,000 in 2023. Buckley expects the 15-employee company to turn profitable in 2025.
Founder: CEO Darragh Buckley, 40, a native of Limerick, Ireland, and an MIT grad who was the first employee at Stripe.
Nala
Headquarters: New York, New York.
Nala is a cross-border remittance platform that lets consumers in the U.S. and 20 European countries send money to African nations, including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. In August 2024, Nala expanded into South Asia and launched its services in the Philippines. Beyond helping consumers make money transfers, Nala’s Rafiki (“friend” in Swahili) is a cross-border payment platform that helps African businesses trade globally.
Funding: $50 million from Accel Partners, Acrew Capital, Amplo and DST Global, among others.
Latest valuation: More than $200 million.
Date of last valuation: July 2024.
Bona fides: In 2024, Nala’s customer base more than doubled and reached 670,000, up from 250,000 in 2023.
Founder and CEO: Benjamin Fernandes, 32, a Stanford MBA graduate and former TV host for his parents’ preacher-run network. He covered the 2012 Olympics and 2014 World Cup.
Parafin
Headquarters: San Francisco, California.
Parafin was founded by three former Robinhood data scientists to improve lending for small online businesses. By using data from marketplaces like Walmart, DoorDash, Amazon and TikTok, it aims to underwrite loans more effectively. The company believes traditional credit metrics unfairly disadvantage women- and minority-owned businesses and that relying on personal credit scores or guarantees discourages many small businesses from accessing credit. Parafin integrates its lending services directly into these marketplaces, allowing sellers to apply for loans on the platforms where they do business. To date, Parafin has facilitated loans for more than 25,000 small businesses.Funding: $194 million from Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital and GIC, among others.Latest valuation: $750 million.
Date of last valuation: December 2024.
Bona fides: Revenue more than doubled to $75 million in 2024 from $31 million in 2023; borrowers rose to 25,000 from 15,000 over the same period.Cofounders: CEO Sahill Podar, 38; CTO and chief product officer Vineet Goel, 32; Ralph Furman (no longer with the company).
Relay
Headquarters: Toronto.
While it’s based in Canada, Relay generates most of its revenue in the U.S. It’s an online business banking platform designed for small businesses, offering no-fee accounts and money management tools. Customers can open up to 20 free checking accounts and two savings accounts with 1.75–3.76% APY to organize income, manage expenses and build cash reserves. Relay also automates cash management with features like auto-transfer rules and provides a Visa credit card with 1.5% cash back. The platform integrates with accounting software such as QuickBooks and Xero. Relay makes money from interest on deposits, interchange fees and a $30 monthly subscription tier with extras such as same-day payments.
Funding: $51.6 million from Bain Capital Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures and Garage Capital, among others.
Bona fides: Revenue surged to $41 million in 2024 from $17 million in 2023, while its customer base grew to more than 100,000 small businesses, up from 46,500.
Cofounders: CEO Yoseph West, 36; CTO Paul Klicnik, 40. West previously worked at Wave HQ, a small business accounting platform that was acquired by H&R Block for $405 million in 2019. Klicnik spent eight years at IBM before moving on to retail tech company Flipp, where he led product delivery.
Securitize
Headquarters: Miami, Florida.
Securitize puts real world assets like Treasuries or private equity shares on blockchains to make them easy for investors to buy and sell. Its flagship product is BUIDL, a tokenized treasury product launched in March 2024 in partnership with BlackRock, which has $11 trillion in assets under management. BUIDL currently holds $640 million in assets. In October 2024, Securitize launched an expanded suite of fund administration services.
Funding: $170 million from BlackRock, Blockchain Capital and Morgan Stanley, among others.
Latest valuation: $479 million.
Date of last valuation: July 2022.
Bona fides: It has tokenized more than $1 billion in total assets with partners including BlackRock, Hamilton Lane and KKR.
Cofounders: CEO Carlos Domingo, 54; president Jamie Finn, 47.
Squire
Headquarters: New York, New York.
A business management platform for barbershops, Squire provides tools for booking, scheduling, payments and marketing. After taking eight years to process its first $1 billion in payments, Squire processed its second billion over the past 18 months. It had 20,000 customers at the end of 2024, up from 15,000 the year prior.
Funding: $165 million from CRV, Trinity and ICONIQ, among others.
Latest valuation: $750 million.
Date of last valuation: July 2021.
Bona fides: In 2024, Squire processed $741 million in transactions, up from $590 million in 2023.
Cofounders: Songe LaRon, 40, who has a law degree from Yale and worked at Skadden Arps before starting Squire in 2015; Dave Salvant, 39, previously a private banker at JPMorgan.
Tipalti
Headquarters: Foster City, California.
Tipalti aims to speed up bill payments globally by processing them online instead of through paper checks, and it supports payment categories including accounts payable, procurement, mass payments, employee expenses and corporate cards. Customers include companies like Spotify, live-streaming platform Twitch and GoDaddy. In 2024, Tipalti introduced new procurement and AI-based reporting tools, grew its customer base from 4,000 to 5,000 and expanded into Europe.
Funding: $700 million from Zeev Ventures, G Squared and Group 11, among others.
Latest valuation: $8.3 billion.
Date of last valuation: December 2021.
Bona fides: In 2024, Tipalti brought in $182 million in revenue, up from $141 million the year prior, though it’s still not profitable. It also processed $70 billion in payments in 2024.
Cofounders: CEO Chen Amit, 59, cofounded and led Atrica, a computer networking company later acquired by Nokia-Siemens, before starting Tipalti in 2010; Oren Zeev, 60, worked in private equity before starting his solo venture capital shop Zeev Ventures.
True Link Financial
Headquarters: San Francisco, California.
True Link offers a debit card with customizable spending controls to help individuals with memory loss, mental health challenges or special needs manage their finances responsibly. The company supports over 150,000 customers, managing nearly $1.5 billion in assets and processing about $750 million in transactions each year. The service is available for $12 per month.
Funding: $60 million from Khosla Ventures, QED Investors and Centana Growth Partners, among others.
Latest valuation: $144 million.
Date of last valuation: January 2022.
Bona fides: In 2024, revenue reached $30 million, up 30% from 2023, and the company earned $2 million in net profits.
Founders: Kai Stinchcombe, 42, previously founded two startups including a sales management platform and a redistricting analytics software company. Former True Link president Claire McDonnell, 41, was a Fulbright Scholar and social-impact consultant before cofounding True Link in 2012.
Zip
Headquarters: San Francisco, California.
Procurement, the process companies go through to buy goods and services to run their businesses, has become increasingly decentralized and complex over the past decade, and ever-growing fraud has made it fraught with risk. Zip’s software organizes and orchestrates procurement processes and approvals, visualizing the steps needed to complete a purchase. Zip also processes the payments–the startup says it processed more than $10 billion in 2024. Just four years after its founding, Zip reached a $2.2 billion valuation.
Funding: $371 million from Bond, CRV and Y Combinator, among others.
Latest valuation: $2.2 billion.
Date of last valuation: October 2024.
Bona fides: Had 440 customers at the end of 2024, including OpenAI, Prudential, Snowflake and DollarTree, up from 290 the year prior.
Cofounders: CEO Rujul Zaparde, 30, cofounded car-rental startup FlightCar before becoming a product manager at Airbnb in 2017. There he met Lu Cheng, 32, an Airbnb engineering manager, who is now Zip’s CTO. The pair left Airbnb to cofound Zip in 2020.
With additional reporting from Nina Bambysheva, Martina Castellanos, Steven Ehrlich, Kelly Phillips Erb, Brandon Kochkodin, Stephen Pastis, Hank Tucker and Francesca Walton.
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