Flex raises $70m from Ryan Smith’s Halo fund to take its AI private bank global
Flex raises $70m from Ryan Smith’s Halo fund to take its AI private bank global

Six months ago, Flex raised $60m and called it a Series B. On Tuesday it said it had raised another $70m, and rather than move down the alphabet, it settled on a Series B1. The round was led by Halo, the investment firm set up last year by Qualtrics fo…

Moneybox is Europe’s newest unicorn, and it’s testing London’s new private market to prove it
Moneybox is Europe’s newest unicorn, and it’s testing London’s new private market to prove it

Moneybox is Europe’s newest unicorn, worth £800m, or $1.1bn. But no fundraise set that price. Staff did, by selling shares on London’s untested new private market. Moneybox, the British savings and investing app, is now a unicorn. It has put a value of…

Databento raises $97M to take on Bloomberg’s terminal
Databento raises $97M to take on Bloomberg’s terminal

Databento has raised $97M in Series B funding to build what it calls the market data platform for modern finance. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates, with DRW, Redpoint Ventures, and Tribe Capital joining. The company announced the raise on…

ECB tells Europe’s big banks to plan for AI cyber threats
ECB tells Europe’s big banks to plan for AI cyber threats

Europe’s banking regulator has a new fear: an AI model clever enough to break into the financial system. It wants every big bank to have a plan by October. The European Central Bank has a warning for the euro area’s largest banks. Frontier AI now poses…

Axos buys AI fintech Arc Technologies to bolt modern software onto a bank
Axos buys AI fintech Arc Technologies to bolt modern software onto a bank

Axos is buying Arc Technologies, an AI-native fintech that banks tech startups, and bolting its software onto a chartered bank. Axos Financial, a US digital bank with about $29bn in assets, has agreed to acquire Arc Technologies, the company announced….

Karina Portugal: learning to ask the right question
Karina Portugal: learning to ask the right question

Ten years ago, Karina Portugal was at advertising festivals like Cannes Lions, discussing campaigns and branding. Today, she sits across the table from some of the largest banks in Brazil, Europe, and the United States to discuss a much harder problem …

How crypto payment processors can help businesses accept cryptocurrency
How crypto payment processors can help businesses accept cryptocurrency

Businesses looking to modernize their payment systems may want to learn what a crypto payment processor is, how it works, and why it matters. Cryptocurrency and the crypto industry at large often appear most prominently in investing circles, but recent…

Klarna applies for a US banking licence, its boldest American move yet
Klarna applies for a US banking licence, its boldest American move yet

Klarna wants to be a real American bank. The Swedish BNPL giant has applied for a US banking licence, betting a friendlier Washington will let it crack a market that has bruised European rivals. Klarna has applied to US regulators to set up its own ban…

Uber quietly pauses 5 of 7 European food-delivery launches as it chases Delivery Hero
Uber quietly pauses 5 of 7 European food-delivery launches as it chases Delivery Hero

Five months ago, Uber promised to storm five new European countries with its food-delivery app. It just quietly hit the brakes, and the reason looks a lot like a €10bn takeover. Uber has paused five of its seven planned 2026 European launches, the Fina…

Thought Machine crosses $100M revenue and delays its London IPO to 2028
Thought Machine crosses $100M revenue and delays its London IPO to 2028

Most tech founders chase a bigger valuation. Thought Machine’s boss would rather talk about revenue, and he has just crossed a milestone worth boasting about. The London core-banking company has passed $100m in annual revenue for the first time, tech.e…