August’s funding rounds show us how embedded finance is advancing on two fronts: AI-native systems are taking on more financial work inside accounting and industry-specific software, while payments, credit and insurance infrastructure is giving those platforms more ways to move money and manage risk.
Those themes were also central to Great North Ventures’ September 2 Annual Reception in Minneapolis. Atif Siddiqi of Branch and Nir Dremer of CapitalOS discussed how financial products are moving inside the software that businesses and workers already use. Mynul Khan of Field Nation shared lessons from nearly two decades of capital-efficient company building.
The recent funding activity reflects many of the same ideas. We’re highlighting 10 rounds covering accounting, co-branded cards, embedded insurance, payment orchestration, open finance and cash-flow-based credit. Most involve early-stage companies building financial capabilities into workflows that already contain the data and customer relationship.
Two larger raises (Rillet and Imprint) stood out to us. Rillet, an AI-native accounting and ERP platform, is turning the general ledger into an operating environment for AI agents. Imprint, which provides co-branded credit-card and loyalty programs, shows how access to balance-sheet capital becomes a competitive advantage. The smaller rounds apply the same principle to narrower markets: the closer a company sits to the data and workflow behind a financial decision, the better positioned it is to automate that decision or embed a product around it.
1. Rillet: $100 Million Series C
Rillet is building an AI-native ERP in which agents perform finance work inside a real-time general ledger, with human approvals and an audit trail. ICONIQ led the round, with participation from Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz and other investors. The takeaway is that financial software is evolving from recording activity to executing and explaining the work behind it.
2. Imprint: $2 Billion in New Debt Capacity
Imprint added $1.5 billion in warehouse capacity and completed a $500 million asset-backed securitization for its co-branded credit card and loyalty platform. The financing expands the capital base behind credit products distributed through consumer brands. It also illustrates why embedded lending requires more than software: durable funding and capital-markets access become part of the infrastructure.
3. Vertical Insure: Series A (amount not disclosed)
Minneapolis-based Vertical Insure lets vertical SaaS platforms add protection at the point of purchase. Its infrastructure covers implementation, insurance operations, claims and customer support. Updata Partners led the round. Vertical Insure is a direct expression of our embedded-finance thesis: software platforms can add insurance without becoming insurers or sending users into a separate purchasing journey.
4. Payload: $9 Million Series A
Payload adds payment acceptance, reconciliation and settlement into software used in real estate, legal services, construction and other industries with complex transactions. Fifth Third Bank led the Cincinnati company’s round. Payload shows how a payment product becomes more valuable when it is designed around the industry’s operating process rather than added as a generic checkout tool.
5. Quantizr: $5 Million Seed
Quantizr turns contracts, budgets, expenses and settlements into a live financial operating view for artist teams. TTV Capital led the Park City, Utah company’s round, with participation from music-industry executives. Its advantage comes from understanding the economics of a tour as the work happens, replacing fragmented spreadsheets and documents with an industry-specific financial system.
6. Axle: $17.5 Million Series A
Axle provides an insurance clearinghouse and API for verification, monitoring and policy updates. Its infrastructure supports lenders, auto dealers, rental companies and employers, embedding insurance data in the workflows where coverage matters. Base10 Partners led the round, with Y Combinator, Gradient Ventures and Stage 2 Capital participating.
7. Neno: €6.6 Million Seed
Neno combines accounting, payroll and tax work with data from bank accounts, cards, bill payments and receivables. AlleyCorp led the Amsterdam company’s round, joined by Motive Partners and Firstminute Capital and angel investors from firms including Mollie, Coinbase, PayPal and Hugging Face. By becoming the financial system of record for small businesses, Neno gains a natural position from which to automate more work and distribute financial products.
8. Pluggy: $3.5 Million Series A
Pluggy connects ERP, accounting and financial-management platforms to banks through a single open-finance layer. DGF led the Brazilian company’s round, with Y Combinator and B Venture Capital participating. The infrastructure gives business-software providers access to financial data and a channel for adding payments, collections and other embedded products.
9. Noggin HQ: £2.3 Million Seed
Noggin HQ uses permissioned bank data and current spending behavior to help lenders evaluate consumers who may be missed by conventional credit files. Blackfinch Ventures led the round, with Oxford Capital, Bethnal Green Ventures and angel investors participating. Its cash-flow-based infrastructure can make credit decisions more responsive to the customer’s present financial position.
10. Finley: $1.85 Million Pre-seed
Finley gives middle-market companies AI-driven support for cash flow, capital planning and financial analysis. Cofounders Capital led the Wilmington, North Carolina company’s round. Founded by former nCino employees Justin Norwood and Josh Pennington, Finley brings finance capabilities normally associated with larger companies into an operating workflow for smaller businesses.
From Workflow Wedge to Financial Platform
These companies sit close to where financial decisions are made: inside the ledger, card transaction, insurance purchase, invoice, settlement or cross-border transfer. That gives them the data and context to automate more of the workflow and embed financial products at the point of need. It also gives them a path to capture more of the economics as they grow.
In 2026, the moat is no longer only software. It comes from regulated relationships, access to capital, proprietary workflow data and integrations that become more valuable over time. Vertical Insure and Payload show that this model is taking hold in the Midwest; Rillet and Imprint show what can happen when the workflow advantage compounds.
