Fintech funding will rebound in 2025 on the heels of improving macroeconomic conditions and a clearer regulatory framework after experiencing a historic low in 2024.

“There’s a renewed fervor in the funding environment for fintech,” Carey Ransom, managing director at BankTech Ventures, told Bank Automation News. “You certainly have seen a lot of capital blowing at the later-stage companies.” 

The VC market expects many late-stage startups like Klarna, Plaid and Stripe to go public, a move that will return money to investors that might be used for funding new startups, Ransom said. 

Payment company Stripe is still evaluating the timing of an IPO and won’t rush into the decision, Chief Executive Patrick Collison said during an interview with the All In Podcast on Feb. 21. 

Dollars might also flow toward fintech startups that are using AI to develop products for risk management, anti-money laundering services, payments and cyber security, Ransom said.  

Here are three fintechs that raised money in February: 

Zeta raises $50M, hits $2B valuation 

The digital banking service provider raised $50 million from one unnamed investor, valuing the company at $2 billion, according to Zeta’s Feb. 11 report.  

“This was not a traditional fundraising round,” Bhavin Turakhia, co-founder and chief executive at Zeta, told BAN. “We weren’t actively seeking capital as we have sufficient cash reserves and no immediate need for additional funds.” 

When the investor expressed interest, Zeta saw value in the partnership and accepted, Turakhia said. The money will remain in reserve for future use. 

“In 2025, Zeta will allocate 70% of its efforts to fulfilling existing contracts, while the remaining 30% will be dedicated to pursuing new opportunities in India and the U.S,” Turakhia said. 

The company is investing in a code developer co-pilot, an AI-driven assistant designed to improve incident management and troubleshooting, to drive efficiency in its operations, Turakhai said. 

Napier AI raises undisclosed amount from Marlin Equity Partners 

Napier AI has raised an undisclosed amount from private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners, according to the financial crime fighting solution provider’s Feb. 3 release. 

“This funding round follows a previous 45 million pound ($56.6 million) investment from Crestline Investors in 2024,” a Napier spokesperson told BAN. “This investment will enable Napier AI to advance its market position by accelerating its research and development plans, strengthen the Napier AI brand and support our go-to-market expansion globally.” 

The London-based company will also use the money to create a tech hub where it will do R&D for new solutions and products, the spokesperson said. 

“The demand for AML technology is rising due to increasing regulatory pressures, compliance requirements, and global geopolitical risks,” the spokesperson said. “We are seeing increasing demand from financial institutions, especially Tier 1 banks, who are having to emphasize advanced screening solutions in a heated regulatory environment with evolving sanctions methods.” 

Starling Bank and Banco de Brazil are among Napier’s customers, according to the company. 

Sardine raises $70M in series C 

Sardine has raised $70 million in its series C funding round from Activant Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Moody’s Analytics, according to the fintech’s Feb. 11 release. 

The money will be used toward “expanding our enterprise capabilities, growing globally and enhancing our product offering across fraud prevention, BSA/AML compliance and credit underwriting,” Soups Ranjan, chief executive at Sardine, told BAN.  

The company is “integrating agentic AI into our unified risk platform to better equip risk teams to combat the scale of modern financial crime,” Ranjan said. Agentic AI will be deployed “into all of our dashboards, rule builders, investigations, case management and decisioning workflows to augment human risk teams.” 

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