Fintech funding still active
Fintech fundraising remains active but selective: global fintechs raised $1.56 billion across 94 deals in March, while notable rounds include OpenFX ($94M for real‑time cross‑border FX) and Cross River ($50M for banking APIs). The pattern points to continued capital flow into payments infrastructure and cross‑border products, even as markets demand clearer monetization. ((bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com); X/Twitter status)
The money did not disappear from fintech in March. It just got pickier: 94 companies raised a combined $1.56 billion globally, with investors spreading checks across payments, digital banking, insurance, crypto infrastructure, and healthcare finance instead of chasing one big theme. (bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com) The biggest rounds were not flashy consumer apps. Ualá raised $193 million for digital banking in Latin America, Alan raised $173 million in health insurance and preventive care, and Nitra raised $113.5 million for software used by healthcare providers. (bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com) That helps explain why two smaller rounds got so much attention. OpenFX raised $94 million on March 31, 2026, and Cross River added $50 million from existing investors the same day, and both companies sit underneath other fintech brands rather than in front of consumers. (openfx.com) (crossriver.com) OpenFX is trying to fix a very old payments problem: moving money across borders still often works like sending a package through three warehouses, with each stop adding time, fees, and foreign-exchange risk. The company says it builds application programming interface tools that let banks and fintechs access foreign-exchange liquidity in real time. (openfx.com) The company says its annualized payment volume grew from $4 billion to more than $45 billion in two years, and it says customers include MoneyGram, Yellow Card, and alfred. Reuters reported the round came as OpenFX pushed deeper into stablecoin-based cross-border payments. (openfx.com) (msn.com) Cross River does a different job in the same plumbing layer. It provides embedded finance and banking infrastructure, which means other companies use Cross River’s licensed bank rails and compliance systems to offer loans, payments, and accounts without becoming banks themselves. (crossriver.com) Its new $50 million raise was common equity from existing investors, with accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management named in the company’s announcement. Cross River said the money would support product launches, partnerships, and international expansion across artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and embedded finance. (crossriver.com) Put those deals together and the pattern is pretty clear. Investors are still funding fintech, but a lot of the capital is going to companies that sell the pipes: foreign exchange settlement, bank connectivity, compliance layers, and payment rails that other firms plug into. (bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com) (openfx.com) (crossriver.com) That is a different market from 2021, when fast user growth alone could unlock huge rounds. In March 2026, the companies attracting money were the ones tied to transaction volume, enterprise customers, or regulated services that can show where revenue comes from. (bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com) (openfx.com) (crossriver.com) So the signal from March is not that fintech is back everywhere at once. It is that investors still have cash for businesses that make money movement faster, cheaper, and easier for other financial companies, especially when those businesses can point to large payment flows or bank-grade infrastructure. (bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com) (openfx.com) (crossriver.com)
