ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Zocks, EquiLend, Fortis, and LiquidTrust
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.
Zocks lands $13.8 million
Zocks, a US-based intelligent communications platform, has secured a $13.8 million Series A round led by Motive Ventures.
The raise saw additional support from existing backer Lightspeed Venture Partners alongside participation from new investors Expanse Venture Partners, Entrée Capital, and 14Peaks.
Founded in 2022, Zocks provides an AI meeting assistant tailored for financial advisors. It says that since its launch in 2024, it has onboarded over 1,000 advisory firms to its platform.
The cash injection, which builds on the company’s $5.5 million seed round in February 2024, will fuel the firm’s product development and entry into the European market, with Zocks also planning to expand its team.
Within the next year, Zocks also intends to bolster its AI capabilities by enhancing its AI agents to automate tasks such as account applications, form processing, and email management.
LiquidTrust, a Los Angeles-based paytech, has bagged a $4 million seed funding round co-led by Anthemis Female Innovators Lab Fund, Resolute Ventures, and Motivate Ventures.
Founded in 2024, LiquidTrust specialises in payment solutions designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Last year, the start-up introduced Micro Escrow Pay, leveraging JP Morgan Payment’s treasury and embedded finance tools. LiquidTrust claims the service is the first instant escrow solution tailored specifically for SMEs, offering the “same payment protections that were once only available to large corporations”.
While LiquidTrust has not specified how the new funds will be used, it has revealed plans to expand Micro Escrow Pay beyond its current focus on global SME B2B transactions. The company says it aims to extend its reach into “domestic payments, replacing traditional letters of credit, and even securing consumer transactions”.
EquiLend bags a minority investment from BNY
EquiLend, a US-based securities lending platform, has secured an undisclosed sum of investment from an affiliate of US banking heavyweight BNY.
Moving forward, BNY and eight other unnamed financial institutions with interests in EquiLend will “advise the company on enabling further innovation and efficiency across the securities finance ecosystem”, the lendtech says.
In addition to the investment, BNY has also committed to being one of the first users of EquiLend’s 1Source solution, which leverages distributed ledger technology to create a “single source of truth for securities finance lifecycle events”, according to the vendor’s website.
This minority investment follows private equity firm WCAS’s acquisition of a majority stake in EquiLend just over a year ago.
Fortis, a Texas-based provider of embedded payments and digital commerce solutions, has landed a joint investment from Audax Private Equity and existing backer Lovell Minnick Partners (LMP), with the financial terms left undisclosed.
Founded in 2010, Fortis offers a range of solutions including payment facilitation, surcharge, ACH, gift and loyalty programmes, and embedded payments, serving software partners and developers in the B2B, healthcare, hospitality, retail, and non-profit sectors.
Greg Cohen, CEO of Fortis, says: “This partnership with Audax, alongside our long-term investor LMP, provides Fortis with valuable resources to accelerate our product roadmap, pursue strategic acquisitions, and expand our global footprint.”
The investment comes less than a year after Fortis acquired MerchantE’s NetSuite payments unit, which provides a cloud-based enterprise resource planning system supporting billing, accounting, expense tracking, order management, supply chain logistics, and production planning.
