ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Carry, Fragment, Powder, and more
At FinTech Futures, we know that it can be easy to let funding announcements slip you by in this fast-paced industry. That’s why we put together our weekly In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) funding round-up so you can get the latest funding news.
Carry bags $10 million Series A funding
Carry, a US wealthtech, has secured a $10 million Series A funding round led by Accomplice VC.
The round, which was raised at a $65 million pre-money valuation, was supported by numerous angel investors.
Carry offers a retirement investing platform for self-employed individuals to help them “grow their net worth by saving money on taxes”.
The company says it plans to hire “for lots of open roles” at its Brooklyn office and boost its research and development initiatives.
Additionally, the company has announced that it has opened up another $1 million allocation to “allow anyone to apply to invest in Carry at the exact same terms as our other Series A investors”.
Fragment, a New York-based start-up, has landed a $9 million seed round which it intends to use to increase the size of its engineering team and support its go-to-market initiatives, according to a report by TechCrunch.
The round was supported by numerous industry angels, including Adobe’s Scott Belsky, Coinbase’s Emilie Choi, Linear’s Cristina Cordova, Doordash’s Gokul Rajaram, and Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi.
Writing on LinkedIn, founder and CEO Thomas Neckel says: “Fragment is meant for fintech engineers, builders of the countless marketplace, vertical SaaS and finance apps that involve keeping customer balances in order.
“Tracking a real-time view into what customers owe and own is a pain, and we want you to know: you don’t have to worry about this part anymore. In less than a week, you can set up all the infrastructure you need to handle balances in a financially correct way. You don’t have to recreate double-entry accounting, build your own database to enforce it, or stress about all the edge cases that could break it.
“Fragment lets engineers access the power and precision of double-entry without having to learn a whole new vocabulary.”
Powder secures $5 million
Californian fintech Powder has bagged a $5 million seed round, which has been earmarked to fuel the firm’s plan to scale its technology as it attempts to take advantage of the “AI boom that is rapidly transforming industries”.
The company explains that the round has come from a group of “40 Silicon Valley insiders who are deeply invested in a generative-AI enabled future,” including General Catalyst, Funder’s Club, Elefund, Litquidity Ventures, Script Capital, YCombinator, and more.
Founded in 2023, Powder provides wealth management businesses with generative AI agents which it claims can save such firms “time and money by parsing complex financial and estate documents in seconds and providing advisors with enriched, ready-to-use extracts”.
Grazzy, a Texas-based digital payments platform serving the hospitality sector, has raised $4 million in a seed round led by VC firm Next Coast Ventures.
The round also featured backing from AZ-VC, Tuesday Capital, InRevenue Capital, and Iron Skillet Partners.
The start-up says its platform “enables digital tipping, instant disbursements, and inclusive banking solutions that are built to scale with hospitality and services businesses of any size”. Its offering allows hourly employees to access their earnings on the same day to help boost financial wellness.
The funds, which follow a reported 100x growth in Grazzy’s customer base over the last 18 months, will help the company increase its headcount and expand its partnerships, integrations, and go-to-market strategies.
Additionally, the latest cash injection will be used to “support new customer acquisition, feature development, and ecosystem partner integrations,” says founder and CEO Russell Lemmer.
Jarvis raises £1.8 million
Jarvis, a pension fintech start-up headquartered in the UK, has bagged £1.8 million in a seed funding round co-led by Ascension VC and Cornerstone VC.
The investment, which also includes backing from the Tokio Marine Future Fund, has been lined up to drive product development as the company endeavours to integrate with the “broader ecosystem of pension-related services”.
Founded in 2022, Jarvis offers a retirement planning solution for UK customers. Its app offering delivers real-time insights into retirement goals and enables users to manage their pensions by planning joint retirements, adjusting investment risk profiles, consolidating old pensions, and setting retirement budgets.
The company says for employers, it also offers “a financial wellness solution, including an auto-enrolment workplace pension designed for the modern workforce”.
“By integrating with payroll systems through its API, Jarvis enables seamless reconciliation of payroll data, simplifying financial management for both employers and employees,” the start-up adds.
Archie, a self-described “fintech acceleration partner” based in the UK, has made its first two investments in the sector, backing cross-border payments provider Wamo and climate-focused fintech Ekko. The financial terms of the investments have been left undisclosed.
Both companies have completed substantial funding rounds in recent months. In May, Ekko landed $2.5 million, while just this month, Wamo raised $5 million.
“After analysing over 200 of the most exciting fintechs, I’m delighted we’ve made our first two investments in Wamo and Ekko – two super-high potential businesses,” says Archie CEO Steve Brennen.
“With our help, I know we can push more fintechs to success, to become category leaders and offer real disruption and better outcomes for consumers.”
Founded in 2019, Ekko provides financial institutions with embedded sustainability solutions, while Wamo, founded in 2018, serves small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with its digital business account offering.
