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LendPro and SPLICE Software Announce Strategic Partnership to Enhance Retail Financing Engagement
LendPro, a leading provider of cloud-based consumer financing solutions, and SPLICE Software, an award-winning customer engagement platform, are pleased to announce a strategic partnership aimed at transforming the retail financing experience.
This collaboration integrates LendPro’s multi-lender application waterfall system with SPLICE’s Data-Driven Dialogs®, enabling retailers to deliver personalized, timely, and compliant customer communications across multiple channels. The joint solution empowers merchants to increase financing approvals, drive higher ticket sales, and enhance customer satisfaction through seamless, automated engagement.
“Our partnership with SPLICE Software represents a major advancement in how merchants can engage with their customers after the initial financing conversation. By combining LendPro’s multi-lender application waterfall with SPLICE’s intelligent communication platform, we are creating a powerful ecosystem where merchants don’t just capture leads they nurture them.” Said Matt Dishman CEO of LendPro
“Through this collaboration, merchants will now have the ability to drive Pre-Qualified Offers and Open-to-Buy financing opportunities back to the consumer all tied directly to the original merchant who created the lead. This means merchants maintain ownership of their customer relationships, create more buying moments, and ultimately increase ticket sizes and lifetime value.”
“At LendPro, our goal has always been to empower merchants to serve more customers and close more sales. This partnership ensures that no opportunity is left behind it brings financing full circle, from initial application to ongoing personalized engagement.”
“We are excited for what this means not only for our retailers, but for the future of embedded consumer financing and customer-centric marketing.”
“Our partnership with LendPro brings a new level of personalization and efficiency to retail financing communications,” said Tara Kelly, President & CEO of SPLICE Software. “Our combined technologies will enable retailers to engage customers more effectively, fostering stronger relationships and driving business growth.”
Circle rolls out global payment network for banks and FinTechs
Circle, a global FinTech firm, has announced the launch of Circle Payments Network (CPN), a new initiative designed to connect a wide range of financial institutions and enable real-time cross-border payments through regulated digital assets.
The launch of CPN comes in response to ongoing challenges in cross-border payments. Despite technological advances, such transactions still frequently take over one business day and cost more than 6%, according to the World Bank.
These inefficiencies, driven by intermediary layers, compliance requirements, and jurisdictional fragmentation, have particularly impacted emerging markets. Circle aims to provide a streamlined and modern alternative.
CPN is designed to modernise the fragmented cross-border payment landscape by allowing financial institutions to move money globally with internet-level speed, transparency, and programmability. It supports real-time settlements and ensures regulatory compliance through a governance framework requiring licensing, AML/CFT compliance, cybersecurity protocols, and risk management standards.
CPN supports a broad spectrum of financial use cases, from supplier payments and remittances to treasury operations and capital markets settlement. It is built on smart contract infrastructure and modular APIs, allowing third-party developers to create advanced financial modules, services, and workflows atop the network.
To ensure CPN meets high standards for operational integrity, Circle has partnered with leading global banks including Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, and Standard Chartered. These institutions are helping shape the network to meet the demands of complex global payment systems.
A wide array of design partners, including Alfred Pay, BCB Group, Flutterwave, Coins.ph, Zodia Markets, and more, are already working with Circle to build out CPN. Additionally, digital asset infrastructure providers such as Fireblocks are integrating with CPN to broaden institutional access to secure, efficient payment capabilities.
Circle co-founder, chairman, and CEO Jeremy Allaire said, “Since our founding, Circle’s vision has been to make moving money as simple and efficient as sending an email. CPN is a significant step in making that vision a reality for businesses worldwide.”
Standard Chartered Bank global head of transaction banking Michael Spiegel said, “Standard Chartered is continuously looking for opportunities to make cross-border payments more efficient, secure, and compliant to various regulatory requirements, globally. Circle’s compliance-first approach to building products like CPN is a game changer for how money moves across borders, and we are pleased to build on our partnership and offer them our global expertise to support the success of CPN.”
Circle chief product and technology officer Nikhil Chandhok said, “Circle Payments Network is a foundational layer for the always-on economy — enabling trusted institutions to move value across borders, instantly. With programmable infrastructure at its core, CPN makes it possible to embed value transfer into modern financial applications in ways that weren’t feasible before.”
Checkbook Recognized as a Leader in Digital Payment Solutions by Frost & Sullivan
Checkbook, a leading innovator in digital payment solutions, has been named a leader in B2B Digital Payments by Frost & Sullivan in B2B Digital Payment Systems 2025. This recognition highlights Checkbook’s commitment to transforming outdated payment systems into seamless, scalable, and cost-effective solutions for businesses.
Frost & Sullivan’s fact based analysis identified Checkbook for its innovative approach to digitizing checks, enabling real-time, secure, and scalable payments across multiple rails, including ACH, RTP, Instant Pay, and newly added support for direct wallet transfers. This recognition validates Checkbook’s leadership in addressing inefficiencies in traditional payment systems by delivering a unified platform with real-time tracking, instant settlement, and unparalleled ease of use.
“Our mission has always been to simplify and modernize payments for businesses of all sizes,” said PJ Gupta, CEO of Checkbook. “Being recognized by Frost & Sullivan is a testament to our dedication to solving critical payment challenges while offering scalable and efficient solutions. We are thrilled to see our efforts acknowledged on a global stage.”
Checkbook has been lauded for its unique Digital Check, which eliminates the need for paper-based processes and reduces operational costs while converting payments from paper to digital. The platform’s seamless integration capabilities and user-centric design make it a standout choice for businesses seeking to digitize their payment workflows. Frost & Sullivan also highlighted Checkbook’s ability to provide end-to-end visibility and enhanced security, empowering businesses to manage their payments with confidence.
In March 2025, Checkbook extended its payment capabilities by integrating additional rails for direct digital wallet payouts. This enhancement allows businesses to send funds directly to customers’ preferred digital wallets with the same speed and reliability as Checkbook’s other payment rails, furthering its mission to offer flexible, secure, and user-friendly payment experiences.
Forter launches innovative Predictive Payment Routing beta
Forter, a global provider of digital commerce trust solutions, has launched major enhancements to its Payment Optimisation suite, including a beta release of Predictive Payment Routing and a new GenAI agent detection tool, as part of its spring product release.
These developments come in response to rapid changes in the digital commerce landscape, where evolving consumer behaviours, the rise of GenAI technologies, sophisticated fraud tactics, and increasing regulatory demands are reshaping how businesses approach payments and risk, according to FF News.
The firm offers a comprehensive Trust Platform that helps merchants fight fraud, improve identity verification, and optimise payments all while ensuring seamless customer experiences.
Its platform is used by some of the world’s largest brands to protect their online transactions.
The newly launched Predictive Payment Routing tool builds on Forter’s existing Payment Optimisation solution. It not only determines when and how to apply authentication, but now also recommends the most suitable processor, card network, and whether to use network tokenisation for each transaction.
This intelligent routing boosts authorisation rates, reduces costs, and gives merchants enhanced control over their payment strategies.
The spring release also includes GenAI agent detection, allowing Forter’s platform to identify when AI-powered agents are shopping or interacting on behalf of customers.
This feature helps differentiate between beneficial bots that assist shoppers and malicious bots that exploit vulnerabilities or commit fraud.
In addition, Forter has improved its device takeover detection by 20% and increased its ability to identify connection manipulation methods, such as VPNs and proxies, by 15%.
These advancements are vital as such attacks continue to grow in both frequency and sophistication.
To further enhance transparency and user confidence, Forter now offers a GenAI-powered feature that automatically generates plain text explanations of its decision-making process. This includes clear insights into the user profile, transaction details, and network behaviours that inform each decision.
Forter has also strengthened its global partner ecosystem, achieving Premier Partner status in Shopify’s Enterprise Technology Partner Program.
This designation places Forter among only 23 global partners and recognises its unique capabilities as the only fraud prevention provider in the group. Through this partnership, Forter helps Shopify’s largest merchants secure transactions, recover lost revenue, and deliver smoother customer journeys.
Forter chief product officer Cyndy Lobb said, “Digital commerce today doesn’t look the same as it did 12 months ago. Changing consumer behaviour, advanced GenAI technology, sophisticated fraud and new regulations have all fundamentally changed the industry. Our focus is on helping businesses stay a step ahead, tackling their payments, fraud and identity challenges head-on all within one platform. No matter how commerce evolves, Forter is positioned to ensure our customers grow by knowing exactly who they are doing business with.”
iLife Technologies rebrands as Infras to expand insurance infrastructure solutions
iLife Technologies, a leading technology provider in the insurance industry, has officially rebranded as Infras following a period of significant growth for the firm.
The move signifies the company’s evolution beyond life insurance as it looks to deliver headless connectivity infrastructure that enables insurance carriers to seamlessly integrate with any distributor user interface without extensive redevelopment, according to InsurTech Insights.
The move signifies the company’s evolution beyond life insurance and follows a period of accelerated growth for the company, which now serves enterprise clients across multiple insurance product lines, including life insurance, annuities, group benefits, disability, long-term care, and wealth management.
By focusing on API-driven infrastructure, Infras empowers carriers to modernize their operations while maintaining flexibility in distribution.
A core aspect of Infras’ mission is to help insurance providers become AI-ready. By abstracting user interface logic and standardising data creation across systems, Infras simplifies the way carriers collect, manage, and analyse data.
This enhanced data consistency forms a critical foundation for business intelligence and AI deployment, positioning insurers for long-term success in an increasingly digital landscape.
The company’s headless connectivity infrastructure supports any distributor interface without requiring backend redevelopment, converts complex back-end logic into modular, adaptable elements, reduces support and maintenance expenses by up to sixfold, accelerates deployment speed by up to sevenfold, and improves business intelligence and AI readiness.
“Our new name, Infras, speaks directly to what we provide: Headless Connectivity Infrastructure,” said Nelson Lee, Founder and CEO of Infras. “By decoupling business logic from specific user interfaces, we enable insurance carriers to streamline their operations, reduce costs, and expand their distribution capabilities without technical barriers.”
With this rebrand, Infras reaffirms its commitment to revolutionising the insurance technology landscape, ensuring carriers have the tools needed to scale efficiently in an increasingly dynamic market.
Axyon AI gains €4.3m to boost AI innovation in investment management
Axyon AI, a prominent player in the FinTech sector, has successfully secured a €4.3 million investment round.
The funding was led by CDP Venture Capital, with notable contributions from US-based venture capital firms Green Sands Equity and Montage Ventures, the Italian holding firm Investment Opportunity 1, and SIMEST, acting on behalf of the Fund F.394 managed in agreement with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI).
Established in 2016, Axyon AI specialises in leveraging predictive AI technology to enhance investment management practices. The company’s innovative solutions focus on improving the accuracy and efficiency of investment strategies through advanced data analytics and AI explainability.
The new funding will be instrumental in broadening Axyon AI’s reach in the financial markets and further developing cutting-edge solutions. This capital boost aims to enhance the company’s commercial presence and improve the coverage of its AI-powered solutions, positioning Axyon AI at the forefront of AI explainability in the investment management industry.
In addition to funding details, the company plans to use the investment to expand its product offerings and strengthen its market presence. Axyon AI has introduced AI-powered factors and its AI-Compass, an alert system that provides insights into market trends and potential risks, enhancing quantitative analysis for investment managers.
Daniele Grassi, CEO and co-founder of Axyon AI, commented, “This funding round, backed once again by our existing shareholders, reaffirms the confidence in our vision and accelerates our expansion beyond current markets. Artificial Intelligence has proven a powerful ally for traditional and quantitative investment managers seeking to enhance their investment strategies with precise, data-driven insights. With this latest investment, we will be able to expand our commercial presence, enhance the coverage of our solutions, and build on our leadership position for AI explainability in financial markets.”
WeeFin secures €25m to lead sustainable FinTech expansion in Europe
WeeFin, the innovative FinTech company, announced today that it has secured a new funding round of €25 million.
This financial injection comes 15 months after WeeFin’s Series A and is led by BlackFin Capital Partners, a prominent European FinTech fund. The round also saw participation from existing investors IRIS, Asterion Ventures, and Ring Capital.
WeeFin, founded in 2021 by former R&D product manager at BNP Paribas, Grégoire Hug, along with Marion Aubert and Guillaume Klech, has quickly become a pivotal player in the FinTech sector. The company provides a comprehensive SaaS platform that centralises data essential for deploying and managing sophisticated sustainability strategies. These include aspects ranging from ESG to impact and climate initiatives, highlighting the firm’s commitment to advancing sustainable finance.
The fresh capital will be employed to further refine WeeFin’s offerings. This includes the enhancement of existing product functionalities, such as data management, the launch of new modules like a solution dedicated to ESG performance attribution, and the integration of new data sources. These enhancements are designed to bolster regulatory compliance and augment client support for more informed investment decisions.
WeeFin has shown remarkable growth, with international sales jumping from 0% to 30% and Annual Recurring Revenues (ARRs) increasing fivefold in the last two years. With plans to continue expanding across Europe, WeeFin aims to penetrate new markets, including Luxembourg and Italy, and has recently inaugurated an office in the UK. Moreover, the company has doubled its workforce in the past two years and anticipates hiring over 100 new employees within the next three years.
Julien Creuzé, Partner at BlackFin, and Chloé Novène, Investment Manager at BlackFin, praised WeeFin’s leadership and vision, expressing enthusiasm for the company’s future prospects, particularly in the UK. Grégoire Hug, CEO and co-founder of WeeFin, reiterated the importance of sustainability in today’s financial landscape, stating, “With BlackFin Capital Partners as one of our investors, WeeFin has the support it needs to make a definitive impact in Europe. This Series B not only confirms this vision but also validates our clients’ trust and the relevance of our platform, which enables them to address their challenges at scale.”
In terms of previous investments, WeeFin’s Series A had successfully set the stage for this subsequent funding round, demonstrating strong investor confidence and a solid track record of growth and innovation.
SumUp teams up with FreedomPay to deliver seamless and secure payment solutions
Global FinTech firm SumUp, which provides payment solutions to businesses of all sizes, has partnered with FreedomPay, a leader in Next Level Commerce™ technologies, to enhance payment experiences for retail and hospitality merchants worldwide.
The partnership aims to strengthen the payment infrastructure by offering a robust system with offline capabilities, ensuring seamless transactions even in remote areas, according to FF News.
Additionally, it provides hardware flexibility and enterprise-level functionality to support businesses of all sizes, from small merchants to large-scale enterprises.
SumUp is known for delivering intuitive and accessible payment solutions that help businesses process transactions efficiently.
The company offers a range of financial services, including card readers, invoicing, and business accounts, designed to simplify payments for merchants across various industries. SumUp’s ecosystem integrates seamlessly with business operations, ensuring streamlined financial management.
FreedomPay provides a global commerce platform that merges security, payments, identity management, loyalty, and data-driven insights.
Its technology is designed to support merchants across different sectors, ensuring secure, scalable, and seamless payment processing. The platform’s patented technology enables businesses to integrate payments across different channels, offering a unified commerce experience.
Through this collaboration, SumUp and FreedomPay aim to provide merchants and consumers with an enhanced payment experience that prioritises scalability, simplicity, and security. Businesses will benefit from:
- Scalability and consistency: Merchants can rely on a single provider for all payment needs, ensuring high-quality service across locations and business sizes.
- Simplicity and transparency: With transparent pricing and no hidden fees, businesses can operate without concerns about unexpected costs.
- Security and trust: FreedomPay’s security framework, combined with SumUp’s payment ecosystem, ensures transactions meet the highest industry standards.
SumUp’s commercial lead Joey Oliver said, “At SumUp, we are dedicated to empowering merchants with payment solutions that are as straightforward as they are secure. With FreedomPay as our partner, we’re advancing our commitment to making top-tier payment technology accessible and effective for every business.”
FreedomPay’s SVP of global business development Kevin Carson said, “By working with SumUp, we are now enabling a system that provides best-in-class payments, data, and security functionality to some of the leading brands across the globe. We’re creating a powerful ecosystem that will not only empower merchants with industry leading commerce technology, but also provide a seamless and personalised customer experience.”
The partnership marks a significant step in delivering a unified and innovative commerce solution to merchants worldwide, reinforcing the commitment of both companies to advancing payment technology.
Canadian mortgage tech firm Pineapple Financial raises $1.5m in public offering
Pineapple Financial, a Canadian mortgage technology and brokerage company, has announced the pricing of a $1.5m public offering.
The Toronto-based firm provides digital solutions aimed at transforming the mortgage experience for brokers, lenders, and clients.
The company’s public offering includes 10 million units, with each unit comprising one common share and one warrant to purchase an additional common share. The units were priced at $0.15 each.
- Boral Capital is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the transaction. Legal counsel for the offering was provided by Sichenzia Ross Ference Carmel LLP for the company, and Lucosky Brookman LLP for D. Boral Capital.
Pineapple Financial is known for offering a suite of technology solutions that streamline the mortgage process. Its tools cover marketing automation, analytics, and client engagement, helping professionals in the mortgage ecosystem deliver enhanced experiences.
FinTech unicorns Qonto and Mollie team up to tackle Europe’s £275bn late payment crisis
Two FinTech unicorns, Qonto, a leading European business finance platform for SMEs and freelancers, and Mollie, a financial service provider, have entered into a strategic partnership to deliver integrated financial services and tackle the region’s £275bn late payment challenge.
The partnership aims to simplify fragmented financial infrastructure by bringing together banking and payments into a single platform.
By doing so, Qonto and Mollie seek to alleviate cash flow issues and reduce the time businesses wait to get paid an issue that affects nearly half of European businesses, according to the European Commission’s 2024 Annual Report.
Qonto is a business finance solution designed for SMEs and freelancers across Europe. It offers a full suite of digital banking services including invoicing, cards, team expense management, and local IBANs all accessible through a streamlined, user-friendly platform.
Mollie is a FinTech provider specialising in payments, enabling merchants to accept a variety of payment methods with speed and transparency.
Its infrastructure is built for scalability and ease of use, supporting fast settlements and a wide array of payment options without hidden fees.
The collaboration launches in two parts. Firstly, Qonto customers in France, Germany, and the Netherlands now have access to ‘Payment Links’ powered by Mollie Connect.
This feature allows businesses to generate secure payment links, send them to clients, monitor payment status, and receive funds directly into their Qonto accounts. Benefits include seamless integration with invoicing, real-time tracking, automatic reconciliation, transparent pricing, and support for multiple payment methods.
Secondly, Mollie is integrating Qonto Embed, a white-label banking product, to offer banking services directly from its platform.
Mollie customers in France and soon in Germany will be able to open business accounts with features such as 24-hour terminal settlements, real-time financial insights, and support for cards, SEPA, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more.
Qonto Embed enables sub-account creation, spending controls, and starts at competitive pricing from €9 per month.
The partnership allows both firms to strengthen their positions in Europe’s FinTech ecosystem by offering SMEs a consolidated, efficient, and scalable financial experience.
“This partnership with Mollie marks a milestone in our mission to simplify finance management for European businesses,” says Qonto CEO and Co-Founder Alexandre Prot. “By combining our expertise in business banking and finance management with Mollie’s advanced payment capabilities, we’re addressing the unique needs of European businesses, from accepting card payments to managing their finances seamlessly in one single place. Our collaboration is more than just a strategic partnership. Together, we’re uniting our strengths to build fintech champions that can compete on a global level.”
“This partnership is a game-changer for SMEs seeking fast, seamless, and fully integrated financial services. By combining banking and payments in a single platform, we empower businesses to streamline financial management, boost efficiency, and free up capacity for strategic growth,” says Mollie CEO Koen Köppen.
PayPoint partners with Uber and Deliveroo to expand digital voucher services
PayPoint, a UK-based payments and commerce specialist, has partnered with Uber and Deliveroo to expand its digital voucher service for retail partners.
The partnerships have been formed in response to the rising popularity of digital vouchers. PayPoint has observed that more consumers are seeking local, convenient stores to act as one-stop-shops for errands, parcel services and gifting solutions, according to FF News.
Particularly during difficult economic times, digital vouchers have become a preferred option for money management and gifting. In 2024 alone, 93% of PayPoint’s retailers processed digital voucher transactions in-store, underlining their increasing importance.
PayPoint enables retail partners to maximise spontaneous purchases and attract new customers by offering a wider range of digital gift card services. Its platform allows secure, seamless transactions for digital vouchers, further supporting retailers’ ability to serve evolving consumer needs.
Uber provides digital vouchers for customers to top-up their Uber wallets, enabling them to book rides or order meals through Uber Eats. Deliveroo offers digital vouchers allowing consumers to top up their Deliveroo accounts, providing convenient access to quick and reliable meal deliveries from local restaurants and grocers.
The new partnerships allow customers to purchase digital vouchers for Uber, Uber Eats and Deliveroo through the PayPoint retail network, choosing any amount between £15 and £150. These vouchers can be used either for personal use or as gifts for family and friends, offering a flexible and accessible way to manage payments and gifting needs.
Additional information highlights that these new digital voucher services not only increase the product range for PayPoint retailers but also offer customers more ways to interact with trusted brands locally. Customers benefit from fast and easy credit top-ups, while retailers enjoy increased footfall and transaction volumes, strengthening their role within the community.
PayPoint retail proposition and partnerships director Antony Sappor said, “We are delighted to be announcing the partnerships with such major brands and welcome Uber and Deliveroo to our PayPoint network. With growing demand for digital vouchers, as both a money management and secure payment method, as well as a thoughtful gift, we’re excited to provide customers with access to these services through our extensive network of retailers.”
“The expansion enhances our voucher offering, adding value for our retailers. Partnering with such well-known names on expanding our voucher services will ultimately draw more customers into their stores.”
Philippine FinTech LenderLink lands $1.25m to revolutionise real-time credit data
LenderLink, a pioneering FinTech based in the Philippines focused on improving credit data infrastructure, has successfully closed its first external funding round.
The company secured $1.25m in an oversubscribed pre-seed round, with investments from Kaya Founders, Iterative, Founders Launchpad, and local business angels including Manila Business Angels.
LenderLink is developing the first high-tech, real-time credit bureau in the Philippines. Its mission is to modernise the country’s consumer lending market by enabling lenders to access and report credit risk data instantly. Through its API-first platform, the firm aims to lower borrowing costs by tackling high default rates and advancing financial inclusion.
The newly raised funds will be used to enhance LenderLink’s technology, expand its market presence, and establish partnerships with key lenders and financial institutions. These efforts are intended to help reshape the Philippine lending landscape, offering better credit risk assessment tools for lenders and fairer access to credit for consumers.
Already integrating over 25 million records across five ecosystems, LenderLink is building an exclusive network where early adopters benefit from improved lending terms and access to high-quality real-time credit data.
LenderLink CEO Christo Georgiev said, “We’ve spent years in fintech and observed that one of the biggest barriers to affordable lending in emerging markets is the lack of real-time credit data infrastructure.
“With this funding, we are addressing this foundational problem by bringing credit into the tech age, leveraging AI, data science, and automation to empower lenders while enabling consumers to rehabilitate their credit profiles faster and more safely.”
Kaya Founders general partner Ray Alimurung said, “What sets LenderLink apart isn’t just the technology it’s the caliber of the founding team and the clarity of their vision. Founders Christo Georgiev, Dimitar Manolov, Dimo Hristov, and Petya Dimitrova bring to the table deep domain expertise in fintech, credit assessment, and data science. Their years of industry experience has helped to inform their insight that lenders can only make optimal lending decisions through real-time credit intelligence.”
Clean energy FinTech Crux raises $50m to expand capital markets platform
Crux, a capital markets technology company focused on clean energy and manufacturing, has raised $50m in a Series B funding round.
The investment was led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from new investors Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, and OMERS Ventures. The round also saw continued backing from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Ardent Venture Partners, CIV, New System Ventures, and The Three Cairns Group, alongside Acrew Capital and Giant Ventures.
Having launched in 2023, Crux operates a platform that facilitates financing solutions for the clean economy. It enables developers, manufacturers, investors, and lenders to navigate capital formation through features such as tax credit transfers and debt product marketplaces. The platform has attracted more than 630 participants and helped close over 70 tax credit transactions across sectors including battery storage, geothermal, and solar energy.
The newly secured funding will help Crux scale its software platform, expand its team, and deepen the functionality of its financial ecosystem.
Crux also plans to explore growth through both new technologies and potential acquisitions.
Crux CEO and co-founder Alfred Johnson said, “Last year, we announced that investors with over 100 GW of pipeline had invested in Crux. We’ve been proud to partner with these strategic investors to execute deals and improve our offering. Today, we are adding insurance and pension investors with hundreds of billions of assets under management. We look forward to partnering with our new investors Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, OMERS Ventures, and MassMutual Ventures as we grow the platform and deploy billions into energy and manufacturing infrastructure.”
1Fort Raises $7.5M to Automate Business Insurance with AI
1Fort, the AI platform for business insurance, today announced it has raised $7.5 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by Bonfire Ventures. The round also included Draper Associates (Tim Draper); Karim Atiyeh, the founder of Ramp; and participation from all existing VCs: Village Global, Operator Partners, 8-Bit Capital, Character VC and Company Ventures. This latest round brings the 1Fort total funding to $10 million.
Insurance brokers and agents face manual, time-consuming processes when serving businesses. Yet 70% of businesses still rely on them for coverage, according to the Hiscox. Despite this reliance, 75% remain underinsured—leaving nearly 24 million businesses exposed as risks grow in severity and frequency with advancing technologies, such as cyber attacks and supply chain disruptions.
1Fort solves these challenges by empowering brokers to bind more top-tier insurance policies for businesses faster using AI. The platform leverages AI to automate various broker workflows, including autofilling insurance applications, retrieving quotes from carriers; comparing coverages; and integrating payment and financing options. Brokers who use 1Fort save on average up to two hours per submission and increase their bind rate by up to 20 percent. Brokers also better retain clients with 1Fort’s complementary risk management software, which businesses manage their policies and proactively prevent claims or losses.
1Fort grew revenue nearly 200% month-over-month in 2024, and has already partnered with over a dozen leading brokerages and A-rated carriers, including Arch, Tokio Marine HCC and Markel. The funding will allow 1Fort to continue to improve the broker experience through AI innovations and talent acquisition and further expand partnerships with carriers and brokers.
“Our mission is to help every business obtain the financial protection they need to keep up with today’s fast-moving risks, and empowering insurance brokers with AI to automate their antiquated workflows is the way to achieving it,” said Anthony Marshi, 1Fort Co-Founder and CEO. “This investment will allow us to grow even faster by doubling down on our AI features and strengthening our broker and carrier partnerships. We’re grateful for our investors who share our vision in transforming business insurance.”
“1Fort has been a great resource for our team, allowing us to move even faster and deliver great products for our clients,” said Travis Hedge, Co-Founder of Vouch, a leading VC-backed broker for startups from idea to IPO.
“Building AI-powered, service-as-software solutions to modernize legacy workflows in the insurance vertical is one of today’s most exciting opportunities,” said Jim Andelman, Bonfire Ventures Co-Founder and Managing Director. “1Fort has already built impressive momentum and is poised to revolutionize this trillion-dollar market.”
Adobe and Antom Forge Strategic Partnership to Empower Digital Creativity with Seamless Payment Access Across Asia
Adobe and Antom, a leading provider of unified merchant payments and digitisation solutions under Ant International, today announced a strategic partnership to launch an optimized payment experience and tailored digital marketing offerings for Adobe’s customers across Asia.
“At Adobe, we’re always looking to deliver elevated and localized experiences for our customers. As our base of customers in Asia fast expands, we’re excited to announce our partnership with Antom to integrate localized payment options for our customers and unlock new growth opportunities in the various markets we’re expanding with Antom into,” said Matt Wegner, Vice President, Global Payments, at Adobe.
Adobe will integrate localized payment solutions to strengthen its global footprint with its user-centric approach. Leveraging Antom’s comprehensive acquiring network, advanced payment technology and broad local payment method coverage across Asia, this partnership will help Adobe optimize transaction flows, increasing conversion rates, and ensuring fast, secure and cost-effective payment settlement.
In the first phase of the collaboration, 8 new alternative payment options will be rolled out across 8 key Asian markets, including AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), DANA (Indonesia), GCash (the Philippines), Kakao Pay (South Korea), Momo (Vietnam), PayPay (Japan), Touch ‘n Go (Malaysia) and True Money (Thailand). Moving forward, both companies may explore opportunities to introduce additional payment methods to include credit cards, bank transfers, digital wallets, and more.
“We are excited to collaborate with Adobe, a pioneer in leveraging AI to enhance creativity and productivity for its users. Through this partnership, we aim to make Adobe’s advanced tools more accessible to a broader customer base in high-growth markets. Adobe’s AI strategy aligns closely with our commitment to supporting merchants with unified payment solutions powered by AI, and we look forward to driving greater synergy together,” said Gary Liu, General Manager of Antom, Ant International.
Beyond payments, the two parties will explore opportunities to introduce Adobe into Antom’s A+ Rewards, an in-App digital marketing platform powered by privacy-preserving computing and AI technologies. It connects brands with hundreds of millions of e-wallet users by embedding with leading e-wallets in Asia. This collaboration is expected to help Adobe improve customer acquisition and engagement through targeted campaigns integrated into users’ everyday digital payment experiences.
“We work with global industry leaders to enhance their presence and advance digital innovations in Asia and beyond, and the partnership with Adobe is part of that effort. We look forward to enabling professionals and enterprises, especially small businesses, to adopt cutting-edge technology and fully unlock their potential,” Liu added.
Overall, the Antom-Adobe partnership will enhance accessibility to creative professionals, businesses and educational institutions, helping them leverage Adobe’s products with greater flexibility. Region-specific payment options built on Antom’s robust payment infrastructure will allow Adobe to respond to the evolving needs of customers in the Asia market via an omnichannel marketing approach that will deploy curated offers and content that is supported by their most preferred payment methods.
Orion180 launches FLEX Home Insurance to empower Florida homeowners with customisable coverage
Orion180, a leading provider of flexible, customer-focused homeowners and flood insurance solutions, has launched its new FLEX Home Insurance product across 14 coastal counties in Florida.
The launch comes in response to Florida’s escalating insurance crisis, driven by frequent hurricanes, flooding, and other natural disasters.
Homeowners in the state face some of the highest insurance premiums in the US, with an annual average of $5,340, according to data from Bankrate.
Despite this, 18.1% of homes in Florida remain uninsured, placing it among the top ten states with the highest rates of uninsured properties. Miami-Dade, in particular, stands out as the most at-risk county nationwide.
Orion180 provides innovative, customer-centric insurance solutions that are designed to address gaps in traditional home and flood coverage. Its mission is to offer flexible and transparent insurance products that adapt to homeowners’ individual needs and financial circumstances.
The new FLEX Home Insurance product empowers Florida homeowners to tailor their insurance policies according to their specific risk tolerance and budgets.
FLEX allows users to customise coverages and select from a variety of deductibles and co-payments, giving them greater control over how they manage both upfront and long-term costs.
Beyond basic coverage, FLEX includes several features aimed at rewarding and protecting policyholders. Homeowners with a claims-free history may qualify for a bonus of up to 100% of their first-year premium.
Additionally, the product includes a rate-locking feature, enabling customers to extend their policy terms and protect themselves from rising insurance rates.
FLEX is now available through a network of select insurance agents across 14 coastal counties in Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Lee, Sarasota, Manatee, Brevard, St. Lucie, Collier, Martin, Charlotte, and Indian River.
Orion180 CEO Ken Gregg said, “Standard home insurance policies are outdated for today’s consumer, and a lot of time do not align with the individual’s budget and interest. FLEX gives homeowners the power of choice. The policy is flexible and allows consumers to choose coverages that fit their individual needs and budget.”