AI solutions provider Distyl AI has raised $175 million in a series B round, hitting a valuation of $1.8 billion. 

The San Francisco-based company, which helps global enterprises implement AI tech within their existing infrastructures, raised money in this round from Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners among other venture capital firms.

The major bottleneck in the adoption of AI isn’t the models, it’s making them usable in a global enterprise company, Michael Costonis, principal adviser at Distyl AI, told Bank Automation News. 

“Our forward-deployed engineers embed alongside our customers and work to understand their business context, which is reflected in the end product,” Costonis said. “The models don’t onboard themselves, either. There are fragmented systems, siloed data and regulatory frameworks they must adapt to.” 

The company’s white-label solution, Distillery, identifies context from an organization’s existing workflow and helps automate tasks to improve efficiency, Costonis said. 

“Legacy integrators can take anywhere from 18 to 24 months to show ROI,” he said. “At Distyl, we deliver outcomes in a single quarter. … It’s meant to integrate seamlessly with the tech stacks enterprises already trust, and to adapt quickly to each organization’s own data and workflows.” 

The series B funding will help Distyl AI make companies “AI-native,” Costonis said, adding that Distyl AI is multimodel to allow its clients access to different AI models and avoid vendor lock-in. The company has raised $202 million since its inception in 2022, according to Crunchbase. 

Demand for Distyl AI’s services from financial services companies is very high, he said, adding that leaders of those firms recognize that the competitive edge will come from transforming operations into AI-native workflows, not from demos. 

“We’re already working with Fortune 500 financial institutions to re-architect processes that touch millions of end users, and our drivers are reducing operational costs, accelerating compliance tasks and freeing up additional capital for innovation,” he said, declining to name clients. 

AKUVO raises an undisclosed amount from a PE firm 

Debt collections service provider AKUVO has raised an undisclosed amount from private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, according to AKUVO’s Sept. 18 release. 

The money will be used to accelerate growth and the use of AI within AKUVO’s collections platform, an AKUVO spokesperson told BAN. 

“Agentic AI will bring better data interrogation, adaptive decision-making, predictive insights and personalized outreach, while also assisting with specialty processes like bankruptcy and repossession,” the spokesperson said. “It is being developed in-house, with Vista’s expertise helping us scale.” 

Financial institutions are increasingly adding AKUVO’s capabilities amid rising defaults and providing clients with a better customer experience, the spokesperson said.  

“Institutions need to manage risk and scale in any economic environment, ideally without adding overhead, and AI helps by handling routine tasks — freeing staff to focus on complex cases and deliver better experiences,” the spokesperson said. 

The Malvern, Pa.-based company has raised $13 million since its inception in 2019, according to Crunchbase. 

Clients include $2.8 billion Addition Financial Credit Union and $638 million Cornerstone Financial Credit Union. 

Aleph raises $29M in series B 

AI-driven financial planning service provider Aleph has raised $29 million in a series B round from Kholsa Venture, Bain Capital Ventures and Y Combinator, among other VCs. 

The New York-based fintech helps companies in budgeting, forecasting, financial planning and analyzing performance to guide business decisions. 

With this latest investment, Aleph plans to accelerate AI adoption in financial functions, particularly within the chief financial officer’s office, according to the company’s Sept. 17 release. 

The company has raised $46 million since its inception in 2020, according to Crunchbase. 

FoboTV, Chess.com, Turo and Y Combinator are among Aleph’s customers, according to the company. 

Eloquent AI raises $7.4M in seed funding 

Eloquent AI, a San Francisco-based startup automating complex customer service workflows in financial services, has raised $7.4 million in seed funding, according to the company’s Sept. 11 release. 

The round was led by Foundation Capital, with participation from EJF Ventures, Duke Capital Partners, Zeno Ventures and Y Combinator, according to the release. 

The company will use the funds to grow its engineering team, expand product capabilities for regulated financial workflows and scale its proprietary Oratio LLM models across banking, fintech, insurance and trading sectors, the release stated. 

The company was founded in September 2025.  

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