Hello Fintech Friends,
It’s been a big week for Canada! Cohere, a Toronto-based enterprise AI provider, announced an initial close of a Series E targeting up to C$7 billion (about $5 billion), led by Schwarz Group. The Canadian government will take an equity stake of up to C$1.6 billion ($1.14 billion), a move Prime Minister Mark Carney said would ensure the company stays Canadian.
Cohere is working with some of Canada’s largest banks. It partnered with Royal Bank of Canada to develop North for Banking, a secure AI platform. It also has a strategic relationship with TD Bank to drive AI adoption. Toronto-based Wealthsimple, meanwhile, is raising money to challenge incumbent banks. The investing and banking platform raised up to C$425 million ($302.5 million) at a C$13.8 billion ($9.8 billion) valuation.
In other funding news, AI drew sizable checks, with Nevis raising $70 million for wealth management and Casap landed $56 million to automate disputes and fraud investigations. Also, Lovey secured a credit facility of up to £250 million ($332.7 million), with £50 million committed. Ibis landed a $250 million facility for onchain lending, while Bizcap secured $175 million to expand its small-business lending across North America.
Among venture firms, Lightspeed Venture Partners raised more than $750 million to acquire businesses and improve their operations using AI. Trust Ventures filed to raise $400 million, while DPI Venture Capital closed more than $112 million to back fintech and financial inclusion companies across Africa and the Middle East.
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Stat of the Week
Airlines worldwide spent $24.5 billion processing payments in 2025, according to IATA. Payment costs rose 10.4% from 2023, while sales grew just 7.7% over the same period.
Equity Funding
Cohere, a Canadian enterprise AI provider, announced an initial close of a Series E targeting up to C$7 billion (about $5 billion), led by Schwarz Group and backed by the Canadian government and Nvidia.
Wealthsimple, a Canadian investing and banking platform, secured an agreement for up to C$425 million ($302.5 million) in primary and secondary equity funding led by GIC.
Nevis, an AI platform for wealth managers, raised $70 million in Series B funding with backing from Sequoia Capital and Charles Schwab.
Casap, an AI platform automating financial institutions’ disputes and fraud investigations, raised $56 million in Series B funding led by Base10 Partners, with strategic participation from Experian and Synchrony.
Hyphenate, an AI platform that automates corporate finance workflows, raised $45 million in Series A funding.
Nous, a British AI assistant that manages household bills and switches providers, raised $17 million.
Ravical, a British AI platform for accounting and tax firms, raised $17 million in seed funding.
Luxor Technology, a provider of bitcoin mining and AI computing infrastructure, raised $16 million in a strategic round comprising primary and secondary capital.
Pathfinder, a charge-card provider for families using state education funds, raised $12 million in Series A funding.
Sava, an AI-powered trust administration company, raised $10 million in seed funding led by Gradient Ventures. It included backing from from Y Combinator and Instacart co-founder Max Mullen.
Predicate, a compliance platform for tokenized assets, raised $8 million in Series A fundingled by Blockchain Capital.
Lette, an AI platform for residential leasing and property operations, raised $6.5 million in seed funding.
Mochatrade, a platform offering Indian traders perpetual futures tied to U.S. stocks, raised $5.56 million across pre-seed and seed funding led by CoinFund, with Coinbase Ventures participating in the seed round.
Wisable, a technology-enabled M&A adviser for small businesses, raised $5 million in seed funding backed by D. E. Shaw.
Spicenet, a brokerage network connecting decentralized finance markets across blockchains, raised $5 million in Series A funding.
i23, a British AI insurance brokerage startup, reportedly raised £5 million ($6.5 million) in seed funding.
Tradl, an Indian AI platform for stock research and trading-strategy testing, raised $4.1 million in seed funding.
Cortas, a Danish startup combining property management with AI software, raised €1.47 million ($1.64 million) in pre-seed funding.
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Debt and Mixed Financing
Lovey, a British small-business lender and finance broker, secured a credit facility of up to £250 million ($332.7 million), including £50 million in committed capital.
Ibis, an onchain credit platform initially serving crypto trading firms, secured a $250 million credit facility and an undisclosed pre-seed round.
Bizcap, a small-business lender founded in Australia, secured a $175 million credit facility to expand across North America.
Collective, a financial management platform for solo business owners, raised $100 million through a $40 million Series B and a $60 million growth facility from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund.
Rently, a Singapore-based platform offering flexible rent payments, secured a $12 million growth credit facility.
Undisclosed Private Equity Investments
Venture Funds
Lightspeed Venture Partners raised more than $750 million for its AI Renaissance Fund and a related investment vehicle to acquire businesses in sectors including financial services and improve their operations using AI.
Trust Ventures, an Austin-based investor backing insurtech companies, filed to raise $400 million for Fund V.
DPI Venture Capital closed its Nclude Fund at more than $112 million to back fintech and financial inclusion companies across Africa and the Middle East from seed through Series C.
BY Venture Partners, a Dubai-based investor backing fintech companies including NymCard and Huspy, closed its $60 million Fund III to invest in AI-native startups globally from pre-seed through Series A.
