Builders in Fintech — Tuesday 27 October: Strive raises $511M, 8 more rounds
Itaú Unibanco agreed to buy its AI model supplier NeoSpace for BRL 2.925 billion, paying part at closing and the rest over five years. Ripple received final OCC approval for a national trust bank to hold RLUSD reserves and custody digital assets, while Hong Kong began round-the-clock trading of two tokenised money market funds. In funding, Neo Financial closed a $185 million credit card warehouse facility and Nous raised $17 million.
The editor
The lead
Itaú Unibanco agrees to acquire AI startup NeoSpace for BRL 2.925B, about $580M
Itaú Unibanco has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire all shares of NeoSpace A.I.
Itaú is paying to own the AI model layer it used as a supplier for nearly two years, a sign that large banks treat models trained on proprietary data as core infrastructure, not vendor software.
Rounds · last 7 days: 41 · Funding Index (2026-W43): 228
Our news
Tech Mahindra acquires Finastra's cash management product suiteTech Mahindra has acquired Finastra's Cash Management product suite: Fusion Cash Management, Fusion Virtual Accounts and Fusion Liquidity Management.
- Finda and Jeonbuk Bank buy Daewon Savings Bank for 12 billion won, 60/40
Finda and Jeonbuk Bank, an affiliate of JB Financial Group, are buying Daewon Savings Bank for a total of 12 billion won, about $9 million.
- Hong Kong approves first secondary trading of tokenised public funds, with two money market funds trading 24/7
Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has approved the world's first secondary trading of tokenised public funds on licensed virtual asset trading…
- Ripple receives final OCC approval for Ripple National Trust Bank
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced on 26 October that the OCC has granted final approval for Ripple National Trust Bank.
Image: betakit.com Neo Financial closes a $185M syndicated warehouse facility led by ATB Financial for its credit card receivablesNeo Financial has closed a $185 million syndicated warehouse facility, with ATB Financial acting as administrative agent, lead arranger and sole bookrunner.
The rounds
| Company | Round | Lead investor | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strive source | — | — | $511M |
| Nevis source | Series B | EQT Ventures | $70M |
| Nous source | undisclosed | Heartcore Capital | $17M |
| Overwatch source | Series A | Mouro Capital | $15M |
| Mochatrade source | — | — | $5.5M |
| Marrow source | Pre-seed | — | $2M |
| Nevis source | Series B | EQT Ventures | €62M |
| Z_One Fund source | First close | CDP Venture Capital SGR | €35M |
| Alpaca source | — | — | Undisclosed |
Quick hits
Lending
- GB Fintel acquired the remaining equity of Mortgage Brain Holdings for £38.4 million; Mortgage Brain's customers write about 40% of UK first-charge residential and buy-to-let applications. — Yorkshire Post
Crypto
- IL Fireblocks is cutting about 7% of its workforce, including dozens of roles in Israel, Calcalist reports; the company has denied reports that Visa is weighing a $2.5 billion acquisition. — Calcalist
Regulation
- CY Solidgate said CySEC has authorised it as a crypto-asset service provider under MiCA, with the licence passported across the European Economic Area. — Solidgate
New on the podcast: Making Blockchain Safe for Institutions with Andrej Benčić (Episode 55)
Number of the day
228
41 rounds this week · baseline 18
How the Funding Index worksFrom the podcast
Quartz is an AI personal banker, started in 2025 by André Silva and co-founder Mateus Mesquita Alves; André previously spent six years at Revolut leading international expansion and new market launches, after starting his career in investment banking in London. — AI Wealth Management for Everyone with André Silva (Episode 54)
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