Banking-as-a-service provider Synctera raised a $24.5 million Series A extension, comprising equity and venture debt. The raise comes as the company expands its network of bank partners and opens its platform to early-stage fintechs.
The funding includes about $9.5 million in equity, with venture debt accounting for the remainder, co-founder and CEO Peter Hazlehurst said in an interview. NAventures, 1st & Main Growth Partners, Diagram and Fin Capital led the round, while Multiplier Capital provided the venture debt, he said. Synctera has raised a total of $126.7 million.
The funding will support operations and product development as Synctera works toward break-even status, which Hazlehurst said could come in early 2027. It will also ensure the company maintains a financial cushion on its balance sheet, a safeguard that sponsor banks expect from partners, he said.
“What many of the sponsor banks want is to make sure that you’re viable,” Hazlehurst said.
The Product Roadmap
Synctera plans to add real-time payments early next year and stablecoins around the second quarter, Hazlehurst said. It’s also working to automate end-of-day operations and support. The company is using AI bots in operations and compliance to help it handle more work without adding much additional headcount.
The funding will also support Synctera Labs, a platform for early-stage fintechs to launch new products. Hazlehurst said Labs goes further than a testing environment because it lets fintechs offer real accounts and cards to users with built-in oversight and compliance. Synctera introduced Labs in October; the first programs are expected to go live in February 2027.
“People earlier in the funnel that maybe have just done a pre-seed or an angel round can get to market, prove it, and then go raise a seed round or a Series A,” he said.
Synctera charges fintechs for platform access and shares revenue with bank partners, Hazlehurst said.
Labs has a lower platform fee than Synctera’s standard offering, though customers also pay usage fees, he said. As fintechs grow, they may find it more economical to move to the standard platform, which has higher fixed costs but lower per-user charges.
Adding Bank Partners
Massachusetts-based Main Street Bank joined Synctera’s sponsor-bank network, according to the company. Synctera now works with eight active sponsor banks, with two more in the final stages of implementation and expected to go live with programs in the fourth quarter.
Community banks are looking to sponsor fintech programs to compete with technology companies acquiring bank charters, Hazlehurst said. But many lack the technology to support those programs on their own, creating an opportunity for Synctera to provide the infrastructure.
“Very few community banks have any tech resources at all, so they themselves can’t get in the game by themselves,” Hazlehurst said.
Synctera subsidiary T-Minus10 Finance recently registered as a money services business, allowing it to take on additional compliance responsibilities in some bank-fintech partnerships. It also acquired compliance-technology provider Cable in April.
“Embedded finance only works when banks can trust what’s happening on their charter, and Synctera has built its platform around exactly that: an independent ledger, automated reconciliation and, with Cable, continuous compliance testing,” said Ash Vaidya, managing director at Multiplier Capital, in a statement.
Photo courtesy of Synctera
