Monday 9 November: Synctera raises $24.5M, 7 more rounds
Revolut put a number on its Latin America plan, at least $1 billion over several years, days after its 115billionvaluation,whileNationalBankofCanadaagreedtobuyEmbarkforaboutC226 million. On the rails side, Stripe supplies the compliance layer for USDC purchases in Samsung Wallet and Coinbase now lends USDC against tokenised gold. Regulators were active too, with the OCC’s AI examiner framework and Greece’s crypto tax law.
The lead
Revolut commits at least $1B to Latin America, with Brazil its largest expansion market
Revolut has set aside at least $1 billion for Latin America, executives told journalists in São Paulo on 5 November.
Why it matters
Revolut is backing licence-led entry in Latin America with at least $1B, raising the bar for local neobanks that compete on banking licences rather than apps alone.
Coverage note: our round capture increased in September 2026, so the Index currently overstates market activity.
Our news
• Europe’s fintech Series B and C deal count drops by close to half — Fewer European fintechs are closing Series B and C financings than a year ago, with the count down by nearly 50%.
• Thailand’s SEC targets Bitget, VCEX and Coins TH in crypto crackdown — Thailand’s SEC is tightening its grip on crypto firms, with enforcement steps involving Bitget, VCEX and Coins TH on licensing and compliance grounds.
Securities and Exchange Commission · Regulation
• Banks now almost all use AI, FT Longitude, SAS and Microsoft poll shows — AI has become nearly universal at financial institutions, aiding decisions in credit, treasury and enterprise risk, according to research from FT Longitude, SAS and Microsoft.
• Can an AI agent use your fintech product? We checked 1,392 of them — Builders in Fintech scored 1,317 fintech products against five checks an AI agent needs to pass.
• Greece approves a 10% tax on crypto gains and 15% on staking and lending income — Greece’s parliament has approved a tax framework for crypto assets: 10% on individual capital gains, with the first €500 of annual gains exempt.
Greek Ministry of Finance · Regulation
• OCC issues supervisory framework for examiners on banks’ use of AI — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued Bulletin 2026-54, a supervisory framework that helps examiners evaluate how banks use what it calls…
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency · Regulation
• Wealthsimple unveils AI assistant Penny among 12 new releases — Wealthsimple unveiled Penny, an AI assistant inside its app, together with 11 other releases at its Wealthsimple Presents showcase in Toronto on 5 November.
• Coinbase lets US users borrow USDC against tokenised gold PAXG through Morpho — Coinbase has added PAX Gold (PAXG), a tokenised gold asset issued by Paxos, as collateral for USDC loans in Coinbase Borrow.
The rounds
8 today · 31 in the last 7 days
Company · Round · Lead investor · Amount
• Kalepa · Series B · Updata Partners · $75M
• Synctera · undisclosed · — · $24.5M
• Uranium Digital · Series A · Blockchain Capital · $16.5M
• firmly · Series A · Squarepoint Capital · $15M
• Guava · Seed · Acrew Capital · $12.5M
• PowerUp Money · undisclosed · Flourish Ventures · $10M
Quick hits
Banking
• GB Starling Bank announced its first business credit card, with uncapped 1% monthly cashback, no annual or foreign exchange fees and limits of £2,000 to £100,000, offered first to selected limited companies. — Starling Bank
Payments
• IN Cashfree added WebMCP support to its hosted checkout so browser AI agents can read orders and show a UPI QR code, while the shopper approves each payment. — Cashfree Payments
Regulation
• SG MAS proposed quantum-safe migration guidance for financial institutions, with plans due from critical infrastructure owners by 30 June 2027 and all remaining systems moved by 31 December 2034. — Fintech News Singapore
Builders Fintech Funding Index
Number of the day 180.9 · This week 30 rounds · Baseline 16.58
Ask our database from Claude or ChatGPT
7,224 companies · 7,681 investors · 9,598 rounds
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