Draper Triangle is a Venture Capital Firm that partners with the Midwest’s most extraordinary entrepreneurs who set out to change the world. Founded in 1999, Draper Triangle has invested in some of the Midwest’s most successful startups including TOA Technologies, Renal Solutions, BodyMedia, CardioInsight, and Carnegie Learning. DTVC partners with early stage companies to create iconic and disruptive businesses in emerging markets including software, digital media, robotics and medical devices. Draper Triangle is a proud member of the Draper Venture Network, a robust venture collective bringing together experienced investors and innovative entrepreneurs from around the globe to share strategies, source opportunities, and create greater value. Over the last 25 years the Draper Venture Network has grown into a self-governed organization of independent venture funds on four continents who cooperate on investment diligence, marketing intelligence, corporate relationships and co-investments. Through DVN, members can leverage the collective intelligence of 100+ invested more than $3B in over 500 ventures. Learn more at drapertriangle.com

Draper Triangle

Draper Associates is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in industry-transforming companies. They invest globally, in great teams of people creating revolutionary companies in new media, gaming, SaaS, cloud, new finance, IOT, and mobile. Their portfolio companies disrupting markets in the tens of billions and are on a clear path to later rounds of fundraising. Draper Associates encourages entrepreneurs to drive their businesses to greatness, to transform industries with new technologies, and to build platforms for extraordinary growth, jobs, and wealth creation. It was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, USA.

Draper Associates

North Coast Ventures (formerly North Coast Angel Fund) is comprised of four contributed capital funds with a focus on early-stage technology investments. Our membership consists of a number of Ohio's leading investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who are dedicated to accelerating early-stage ventures. North Coast Ventures members play an active role by generating deal flow, serving on due diligence teams, working with portfolio companies, or serving on the Investment Screening and Executive Committees. Through this involvement, our goal is to provide a supportive environment for our portfolio companies and ultimately enhance the performance of our Fund. Northeast Ohio has a long tradition of active and successful angel investing, but until recently, the success of this crucial form of funding has hinged on the efforts of a relatively small number of individual investors. As the region’s first professionally managed angel fund, North Coast Angel Fund works to improve the early-stage funding environment for both entrepreneurs and investors.

North Coast Ventures

JumpStart, also known as [Knowledge Adventure](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/knowledge-adventure) Trusted by over 30 million parents, the JumpStart brand has been a leader in the educational software market for over 20 years. Recently, the internationally renowned brand expanded into the online gaming market with a new tent pole property at JumpStart.com. Launched live on March 10, 2009, JumpStart.com is a groundbreaking evolution in children's learning games and the first learning game delivered in a browser with high-quality 3D graphics and advanced game play. A completely safe and secure online environment where kids can interact, explore and learn, JumpStart.com has quickly become the epicenter of online gaming for the 3-10 year old demographic. JumpStart has several successful educational mobile apps including Preschool Magic of Learning and My ABC Book, as well as casual apps like Punk Punk Blitz and Roller Squash.

JumpStart

We partner with bold, visionary founders & disruptive companies to create industries of the future.

Ohio Innovation Fund

Alumni Ventures Group provides high-quality, diversified venture portfolios to individual investors who previously haven't had access to VC. It helps accredited alums from top entrepreneurial schools invest together in the ventures of fellow alums. The firm backs companies with an alumni connection and an institutional lead investor with expertise in the space. AVG also offers focused funds that allow any accredited investor access to a venture portfolio, diversified by type, sector, stage, and geography. Beth Obermiller, Michael Madden, and Mike Collins co-founded the firm in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2013.

Alumni Ventures

CommerzVentures specializes in early- and growth-stage companies in the financial services and insurance sectors. Established in 2014 as the venture capital fund of Commerzbank. Independent investment management company since 2019. CommerzVentures is a return-driven, non-strategic venture capital investor. We back early- and growth-stage companies in the financial services and insurance sectors, starting at Series A. We aspire to invest in the very best startups in a given sector. For their portfolio companies, we offer access to key decision makers across the banking and insurance industry. Our initial investment size ranges from €2 million to €10 million. We invest mostly in Europe, Israel, and the USA, and are always looking to work with entrepreneurs who have vision and enthusiasm!

CommerzVentures

Viola Ventures (formerly Carmel Ventures) is a venture capital firm that invests in Israeli-related early stage companies with significant ideas that can lead to transformational companies. Founded in 2000 by [Avi Zeevi](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/avi-zeevi) and [Shlomo Dovrat](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/shlomo-dovrat), Viola Ventures manages over $1.2B across six funds, and is the only Israel-based VC fund with seven investing partners solely dedicated to early-stage tech investments. This allows for unique depth and diversification that spans across a wide range of backgrounds and verticals. With over 20-year legacy in Israel’s vibrant technology ecosystem, Viola Ventures is known for repeatedly backing global tech companies and unicorns, such as ironSource, Payoneer, Lightricks, Redis Labs, and Outbrain. The fund holds a substantial share of Israel’s significant exits, including Actimize, RedBend, ECI, Samanage, Perfecto, Tapingo, and more. Viola Ventures invests in exceptional teams with a strong focus on AI technologies looking to transform traditional markets, the semiconductors and deeptech industries, and consumer facing products.

Viola Ventures

Viola FinTech is a cross-stage venture fund that invests in global fintech companies alongside venture investors. The fund brings together financial institutions and innovative startups to accelerate the modernization and digitization of financial institutions and support the growth of FinTech companies.

Viola FinTech

Opera Tech Ventures is a corporate venture capital firm that invests in outstanding entrepreneurs and provides them with industry support.

Opera Tech Ventures

Mitsubishi UFJ Capital is a venture capital firm focusing on life science, ICT, and high technology investments.

Mitsubishi UFJ Capital

Cross River Bank combines innovative technologies with the expertise of a bank to create new services and solutions for fintech companies that are redefining global financial services. In addition to traditional banking, the company has developed partnerships with financial technology leaders to build compliant and integrated products for the marketplace lending and payment processing arenas.

Cross River Bank

Cerca Partners is a leading co-investment VC fund with a sustainable advantage of unique insights and access to the best startup investment opportunities in Israel. Powered by a community and network of global tech entrepreneurs and top-tier Venture Capital funds, the fund provides both the expertise and the finesse required in an innovative and fast paced international market. Cerca's strong network and community comprises Israel’s most successful tech entrepreneurs as well as tech and business executives in a variety of verticals. Their accumulated experience helps us make smart investment decisions and provides our entrepreneurs with invaluable guidance and mentorship.

Cerca Partners

Wix Capital is a fund that invests in early-stage companies that offer significant industry opportunities to shape the future of the web. Wix Capital's specific areas of focus include software and technology companies that sit at the intersection of online design and development, commerce and business management, and AI and automation solutions. Wix Capital aims to participate in seed and early-stage investment rounds worldwide. Wix Capital is the Internal Venture Arm of Wix.

Wix Capital

Alviere

Alviere is a finance platform that provides embedded financial products and technology to its customers. It streamlines and automates the delivery of financial products like banking, mobile payments, card issuance, payment processing, and cross-border currency exchange, enabling its clients to strengthen customer relationships, increase revenue and maximize profits.

Alviere offers the infrastructure platform “The HIVE” for non-banking enterprises to embed several banking and payment-related financial services for their respective customers and employees. Its banking solutions include white-label infrastructure for enterprises to offer Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured bank accounts, with in-built compliance and security, and issue physical and virtual cards (debit, prepaid, and loyalty). Through its payment solutions, The HIVE enables subscription and real-time payments through means including automated clearing house (ACH), merchant card processing, and cross-border transactions in over 100 currencies.

Democratizing financial technology with a suite of API-based solutions

FinTech Infrastructure

Alviere offers the infrastructure platform “The HIVE” for non-banking enterprises to embed several banking and payment-related financial services for their respective customers and employees. Its banking solutions include white-label infrastructure for enterprises to offer Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured bank accounts, with in-built compliance and security, and issue physical and virtual cards (debit, prepaid, and loyalty). Through its payment solutions, The HIVE enables subscription and real-time payments through means including automated clearing house (ACH), merchant card processing, and cross-border transactions in over 100 currencies. Alviere follows a pay-per-use business model, charging users an interchange fee based on the transactions handled by the platform. The company offers its services in North America primarily targeting large enterprises such as the Fortune 500 companies. It noted that it had closed deals with two unnamed enterprise users (in October 2021), each having more than 10 million subscribers/customers. Alviere partnered with the cross-border payment solution provider Currencycloud in April 2021 to provide Alviere’s enterprise clients with the functionality of Currencycloud’s Spark solution (a multi-currency e-wallet with individual International Bank Account Numbers [IBANs]). The company raised USD 50 million in Series B funding in October 2021, six months after it raised USD 20 million in Series A funding. The last raised funds were earmarked for accelerating go-to-market activities and expanding operations to Europe and Latin America.

<div>
 
 Cross River Bank provides a white-label banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform for enterprises, combining banking services, payments, and marketplace lending infrastructure to build fintechs. Its solutions comprise demand deposits, savings accounts, credit and debit cards, and payment clearing services, including automated clearing house (ACH) and real-time payments. The company also provides banking and payment infrastructure for the crypto industry, including risk management services for its crypto clients.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships 
 
 
 
 
 As of December 2020, the company had over 400 employees, and had entered into more than 30 partnerships. Moreover, as of March 2021, the platform had been used to support over 375,000 small businesses through the paycheck protection program (PPP).
 
 
 
 Cross River Bank teamed up with UK-based BaaS provider 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/421515">
 Railsr
 </a>
 in January 2019 to launch a common API for their platforms to be used globally. As of April 2022, Cross River had over 80 clients including lenders such as Affirm, Best Egg, and Upstart, neobanks such as 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/220119">
 Revolut
 </a>
 , and blockchain-based payment processing platform GreenBox. The platform reportedly originated over USD 24 billion in loans per annum, around 10x the value of loans it originated in 2015.
 
 
 
 
 Cross River Bank has expanded its operations by acquiring Betterfin, a platform offering lending-as-a-service (LaaS) solutions, in November 2021. Through the acquisition, Cross River Bank leveraged Betterfin’s software to digitize parts of the small-business lending process (such as origination and underwriting). 
 
 
 
 The company partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/1643">
 American Express
 </a>
 (Amex) to enable FinTechs to issue credit cards through Cross River Bank, on the Amex network, while also providing select Amex benefits to the FinTechs. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 The company 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9458">
 raised USD 620 million in funding
 </a>
 co-led by Eldridge and a16z, at a valuation of over USD 3 billion, to invest in product developments, recruitment, international expansion, and boosting strategic partnerships.
 
 
 
</div>

Synctera was co-founded in 2020 by Peter Hazlehurst, the former head of Uber Money, who previously led the development of Google Wallet. The company offers an API-based infrastructure platform for community and regional banks to find and partner with FinTechs. This enables FinTechs to leverage the former’s licenses to embed FDIC-insured mobile checking, debit cards, savings accounts, and payment innovations, among other features. The API platform offered to the banks will then be sold to the FinTechs to code on. Although the end customers interact with the FinTechs, they legally belong to the bank.<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8117">Synctera mainly charges the banks </a>based on the interchange fees they earn (half of the interchange fees, as of January 2022) from the services provided. It does not charge them an initial amount to use the platform. Moreover, the platform also embeds fraud-as-a-service and charges FinTechs on a per transaction basis (4 cents per transaction) should they choose to use it. It subsequently shares that revenue 50/50 with the banks.The company launched the “t-minus10” project in January 2022, which offers a live sandbox for FinTechs to build apps, test, and go to market, enhancing their access to banking partners. It subsequently launched a “Smart Charge Card” (APIs to build, launch, and issue charge cards) and “White-label Banking App” (a codebase for developers to build embedded banking products or neobank apps) infrastructure in October 2022.Key customers and partnershipsIn February 2022, Lineage Bank (a community bank in Tennessee) and GoGetr (FinTech aiming to promote health and wealth management) became the first companies to launch a banking solution using the Synctera platform. As of March 2023, the platform was working with around 50 fintechs, of which 14 were live (including Wayapay and Float). Synctera reportedly had over 20 implementations set for launch in the following two months.Synctera announced a new card issuing and management infrastructure offering (Card-as-a-Service), in July 2021, which it developed in partnership with Mastercard and leading card issuing infrastructure disruptor, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/64287">Marqeta</a>.Funding and financialsIn March 2024, Synctera raised USD 18.6 million in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27244">Series A1 extension</a> co-led by Lightspeed and Fin Capital. The company earmarked the funds to support business growth by facilitating more complex use cases across the US and international markets. The company also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16980?industryIds=53">raised USD 15 million</a> in funding led by NAventures in March 2023, to invest in expanding the platform’s use cases and broadening its geographic footprint beyond the US (including expanding to Canada). Meanwhile, Synctera has also partnered with the National Bank of Canada to enable companies to launch FinTech apps and embedded banking products in Canada.

Synctera

<div>
 
 Based in the UK, Weavr, formerly known as Open Payments Cloud, was spun out of payment provider Ixaris in 2019. Weavr offers the infrastructure for enterprises to embed banking services across various industries, including education, fitness, logistics, etc. Weavr&rsquo;s &ldquo;Meta&rdquo; platform combines multiple banking and payments partners in one platform through application programming interfaces (APIs). Using the APIs, enterprises can embed virtual banking services such as card payments, fund transfers, and international banking accounts.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 Weavr expanded its operations to Singapore in November 2022, as part of its global expansion plans.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 As of July 2021, Weavr&rsquo;s customers included Finway, Thanks Ben, and MySkillCamp, among others.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 In October 2019, Weavr partnered with payment service providers Global Processing Services (GPS), Paynetics, and iDenfy to enable developers to create and run sophisticated and streamlined payment experiences for their European customers through Weavr.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 Weavr 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8647?industryIds=53">
 raised USD 40 million
 </a>
 in Series A funding in February 2022, led by Tiger Global, less than a year after 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4166">
 raising GBP 4 million (USD 5.5 million)
 </a>
 in seed funding in July. The funds were earmarked for business development and recruitment to support Weavr&rsquo;s expansion to the US market, while also supporting its continued expansion in the UK and Europe. 
 
</div>

Weavr

<div>
 
 MX offers an open finance portal, data connectivity application programming interface (API), and MX platform API for banks, credit unions, and other financial service providers. The company’s solutions allow its clients to utilize financial data to reduce fraud, approve loans faster, and improve their customer experiences. In addition to APIs and connections, MX also offers a range of capabilities, including data aggregation, analytics, financial feed insights, wealth and investment services, and verification services. 
 
 
 
 
 MX looks to enable banks and financial institutions to launch next-generation services and apps that automate and personalize financial experiences. As of January 2021, the company noted that it worked with more than 2,000 banks, credit unions, and FinTech companies, and its platform reached over 200 million end-users. Moreover, it also powered 43 of the top 50 digital banks as of the same period. 
 
 
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8753?industryIds=53">
 February 2022, MX partnered
 </a>
 with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/361160">
 Rize
 </a>
 , to enable users to access Rize’s banking infrastructure to build, launch, and scale financial products through a single API, thereby reducing the development time and cost.
 
 
 
 
 In January 2021, MX raised USD 300 million in a Series C funding round led by TPG Capital, at a valuation of USD 1.9 billion. The newly raised funds are to be invested in improving MX’s capabilities, expanding its global presence, and increasing its workforce. In January 2021, MX noted that its headcount tripled over the past two years, reaching 550 staff members. 
 
 
 
 
 The company appointed Shane Evans as interim chief executive officer (CEO) in January 2022, to prepare the company for an IPO or sale (at a valuation of over USD 5 billion) and oversee its growth. 
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Synapse offers a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) infrastructure primarily for banking and financial service providers. The infrastructure applies machine learning and automates repetitive back office tasks, covering a breadth of products, including deposit, lending, investment products, and payments platforms, among others. Its white-label infrastructure is available through application programming interfaces (APIs), allowing developers to launch customer-facing FinTech services.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 The company expanded its platform by launching the &ldquo;Credit Hub&rdquo; offering in August 2021, for financial institutions to help individuals build and access credit, and offer cards, credit building tools, lending accounts, and cashback rewards. Synapse claims its platform enables users to build FinTech solutions in six weeks, compared to the 18 months taken by typical alternatives. The Credit Hub was in private beta until August 2021, and in private beta it had issued around 1 million credit accounts and extended over USD 40 million in credit.&nbsp;
 
 
 In June 2019, the company claimed that its integrations allow developers and apps to reduce the incremental cost of operating financial products to zero, from around USD 130-USD 150.Synapse looks to broaden its global footprint by gradually entering Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. As of June 2019, its operations were limited to the US; however, the company intended to begin its foreign expansion to Canada and Europe by initially launching payment, deposit, and debit card issuances, expanding to lending and investment products thereafter.
 
 
 In October 2023, Synapse 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22521">
 laid off nearly 40% of its workforce
 </a>
 due to worsening macroeconomic conditions having unfavorable impacts on business circumstances, clients, and platforms. In June 2020, the company laid off nearly half of its workforce across 11 departments owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was largely due to the pandemic having a negative impact on its customers, who primarily comprised early-stage startups.
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28683">
 April 2024
 </a>
 , Tabapay acquired the assets and affiliates of Synapse, for an undisclosed sum, following the filing of a voluntary bankruptcy petition under Chapter 11 by Synapse. Through this acquisition, TabaPay planned to leverage Synapse's assets and technologies to broaden its financial services offerings, while Synapse will continue to operate independently.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In January 2022, Synapse 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7574">
 partnered with TrueAccord
 
 </a>
 to offer debt collection service infrastructure for its clients.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In April 2020, the company&rsquo;s annual recurring revenue was estimated at around USD 20 million-USD 30 million and the company reportedly doubled its revenue in 2020 and saw a 150% revenue growth year-to-date July 2021. Notably, as of January 2021, Synapse had more than 7.8 million users and processed over USD 39 billion in transactions.
 
 
 
 &nbsp; 
 
</div>

Synapse

May specialize in promoting inclusiveness in financial services, primarily in the investment and lending spaces

AI/ML can improve the quality of their offerings, such as using AI/ML to reduce biases

Used for payment completions, accessing banking and transaction data, and providing financial insights, among others

Platforms that allow FinTechs to integrate banking services such as opening and maintaining accounts, facilitating card payments, etc.


Platforms that enable FinTechs to integrate a range of payment-related services such as one-time payments, subscriptions, and receipt management for domestic and cross-border transactions.


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