Meet fintech's next generation
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🐳Is DeepSeek the Anthropic of China? The AI model developer just raised a $15 billion round ahead of a planned IPO, Bloomberg reported, setting it up to mark a major milestone in China as the US awaits Anthropic’s debut. See what it would take for Anthropic to notch a $2 trillion valuation in our IPO Impact analyst note.
Plus: Secondary buyers push back on doubts around continuation funds ⬇️
Fintech is undergoing a generational change. AI’s ability to complete complex tasks has become so powerful it can automate advanced human work.
As a result, the next 20 years will spawn generational fintech dynasties, consisting largely of agentic workflow companies. These startups will automate human operations for banks, fintechs, brokerages, and insurance.
The total addressable market in financial workflow automation is one of the largest in the world. US banks and credit unions spend $700 billion on operational expenditure annually, half on personnel, whose work AI agents can increasingly take over. Europe is even larger at about $800 billion.
Leading workflow automation fintechs will grow to $1 billion-plus ARR by the early 2030s by pursuing large bank and insurance customers, with single contracts eclipsing $10 million per annum and some $50 million-plus.
The best startups will land and expand, automating several client workflows. Veritus is the perfect example. The company built a leading AI-powered consumer loan servicing platform and soon after built AI-powered loan application conversion tools, in response to customer asks.
Winning startups will look like Veritus. They’ll live onsite with customers, develop exceptional forward-deployed engineering programs, craft fast, compliant onboarding, maintain deeply rigorous compliance standards, and of course be led by formidable founders. Also, their own internal ops will be fully AI-native.
Spot other potential winners in our list of 55 pre-seed and seed fintechs that raised in Q3.
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Competition is already fierce among the top marketplace platforms that give advisors access to private market alternatives. Now comes an escalation.
ICapital is still the category’s clear leader, but No. 2 rival CAIS is looking to make further inroads with independent RIAs who make up its base of clients. Since 2022, iCapital has made over a dozen acquisitions, backed by $1.5 billion raised over the years, according to PitchBook data.
For its part, CAIS has focused on organic growth since it was founded in 2009. But it’s ready to shop for more firepower, having freshly bulked up its war chest with a $170 million round to help fund acquisitions.
In its latest funding, investors valued New York-based CAIS at more than $2 billion, versus iCapital’s $7.5 billion valuation after a funding round last year. Alts giants Apollo Global Management and Hamilton Lane are investors in both CAIS and iCapital. Last month, iCapital struck a strategic partnership with post-trade infrastructure business DTCC, which invested an unspecified sum in the company.
CAIS says it currently serves over 2,500 wealth management firms that support over 65,000 financial advisors. By comparison, iCapital had over 3,300 firms on its platform. Both marketplaces have seen rapid growth in the past few years, reflecting the wealth channel’s growing interest in private market alternatives.
Jenna O’Malley/PitchBook
In recent years, continuation funds and portfolio sales have stepped in to fill the liquidity hole left behind by sluggish traditional exit routes. But if IPOs and sponsor-to-sponsor exits ever return to their previous cadence, some question whether the secondary market will continue its pace of growth.
Recent PitchBook research suggests a recovery in M&A might already be eating into the continuation fund market.
Secondary buyers disagree.
“I think that’s a false narrative,” said Amyn Hassanally, partner and global head of private equity secondaries at Pantheon. “The secondary market is operating and growing on a trajectory that’s quite independent from market conditions and the exit environment.”
He pointed to 2021, when secondary volume jumped 110% year over year to $126 billion, according to Lazard, even as PE-backed exits hit a record $1.7 trillion globally, per PitchBook data.
Jeff Akers, partner and head of secondary investments at Adams Street Partners, said GP-led deals aren’t just a response to weak exits but a “market-driven opportunity” that allows PE managers to double down on businesses they already know well. Anyway, a swift exit market comeback isn’t a quick fix.
“Historically, one or two years of better liquidity does not solve the problems in the market… Market dislocation requires several years of secondary selling and market recovery to solve the problem,” he said.
- Meet the people snacking on raw chicken and beef brains. They’re part of a rising American dietary movement rejecting long-taught food narratives. [The New York Times Magazine]
- Tesla is preparing to dispatch its gold-clad Cybercab in more cities. The autonomous vehicle could rival Waymo’s dominance of robotaxi services. [TechCrunch]
- Kellogg’s ex-CEO Carlos Gutierrez was diagnosed with ADHD at 65. He says that top leadership roles are good for people who have the condition, explaining how it became one of his strengths. [Fortune]
China-based AI model developer DeepSeek raised a 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) round from investors including Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. and Tencent, Bloomberg reported.
AI research lab Flapping Airplanes secured a $1 billion Series A led by Index Ventures and Lux Capital at a $6 billion valuation.
Apex, a satellite maker, is in talks to raise a $500 million round at a $4 billion valuation led by Washington Harbour Partners, Bloomberg reported.
Xona, which builds global navigation infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit, raised a $250 million Series D led by Future Ventures at a $2.45 billion valuation.
Warp Sciences, the developer of infrastructure for drug discovery research teams, emerged from stealth with $215 million in funding in a round led by Lightspeed.
Helion, a nuclear fusion startup building its first power plant, signed a letter of intent to receive $175 million in federal funding.
Tractian, the developer of a physical AI platform for industrial infrastructure, secured a $130 million Series D led by Sapphire Ventures and M&G’s Catalyst at a $1.4 billion valuation.
Code writing and testing platform developer Blacksmith raised a $66 million Series C led by Sequoia at a $1 billion valuation.
Physical AI commercialization startup Formic raised $50 million, which includes a Series B led by Mercato Partners and debt financing from S2G Investments.
Coherence Neuro, the developer of an implant to detect and treat brain cancer, raised a $45 million round led by Founders Fund and The OpenAI Startup Fund.
Coast, a provider of payment cards and spending software for trade businesses, secured a $35 million round led by Thomvest Ventures.
Zurich-based physical AI startup Enact Intelligence raised a $30 million pre-seed round from investors including Redalpine, Notion Capital and Firstminute Capital.
Lisbon-based autonomous drone maker Beyond Vision secured over €28 million in a round led by Índico Capital Partners and Lince Capital.
Embedded insurance startup Slingshot Insurance emerged from stealth with a $27 million seed round led by Rally Ventures and Skyward Group.
Fort Robotics, the developer of a safety layer for physical AI, secured $20 million from Tiger Global and Mark Cuban Companies.
Permira agreed to sell New York-headquartered credit intelligence, data and workflow provider Octus to the London Stock Exchange Group for $3.5 billion.
Noetix Robotics, a Beijing-based humanoid robot developer backed by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO, Bloomberg reported.
The FSE Group launched the Future London Growth Fund, a debt fund designed to support the growth of scale-ups across London.
Barcelona-based Masia closed its debut fund on €18 million, investing at pre-seed and seed across AI and frontier tech.
Harvard and Stanford lead in the MBA rankings for number of female entrepreneurs in 2026. University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Northwestern round out the top five.
Read more: Top universities ranked for female founders
