This Week's Hot Fintech News and Funding Reports

interface.ai Secures $30M in Funding 

Led by Avataar Venture Partners

interface.ai, a customer automation platform focused on revolutionizing customer service in the financial sector, has successfully closed a $30 million funding round, marking its first-ever outside investment. The round includes $20 million in equity and $10 million in debt, and it was spearheaded by Avataar Venture Partners. The funding is set to accelerate the company’s growth and expand its offerings across North America and India.

Founded in 2019 by Srinivas Njay and Bruce Kim, interface.ai aims to bring advanced AI capabilities to regional and community banks that otherwise lack the resources for such technology. "interface is trusted by more than 100 financial institutions across North America, processing millions of interactions every day,” said Njay, who drew inspiration from his father’s credit union business in India. Their AI platform offers voice- and text-based agents designed to assist customers with tasks ranging from modifying mortgage payments to opening new accounts, all while banks can fine-tune the AI with their own data for personalized experiences.

With plans to expand their 120-person team and accelerate go-to-market strategies, interface.ai is positioned to continue its mission of democratizing access to cutting-edge AI tools for financial institutions. The company is also betting on the rising adoption of AI by credit unions, one of its largest customer segments, which are eager to incorporate chatbot technologies to enhance customer experiences.

FINQ’s STOCKS-AI 2.0 Posts 127% Growth: Leading the Future of Smart Investing

FINQ’s revolutionary STOCKS-AI 2.0 platform has shattered expectations, achieving an outstanding 127.60% growth between December 2022 and September 2024, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 43.75% growth during the same period. This AI-driven platform analyzes vast datasets in real time to provide investors with dynamic insights and strategic recommendations, making it a game-changer for both individual and institutional investors.

STOCKS-AI 2.0’s secret lies in its adaptability; the machine learning algorithms evolve continuously, analyzing everything from financial reports to social media trends to predict market movements. This proactive approach allows investors to stay ahead of trends and make more informed decisions, effectively minimizing human biases like overconfidence or herd behavior. With the ability to optimize stock rankings and generate smarter insights, STOCKS-AI 2.0 is paving the way for the next era of intelligent, AI-powered investing.

FINQ’s commitment to transparency further sets it apart in the fintech space. Investors can track their portfolios in real-time and access detailed performance reports, offering both seasoned traders and market newcomers a smarter, more reliable path to navigating the complexities of the stock market.

Zip Raises $190M to Transform Procurement, Reaches $2.2B Valuation

Procurement platform Zip has announced a $190 million Series C funding round, bringing its valuation to an impressive $2.2 billion. The round, led by top-tier investors such as DST Global and Adams Street, will fuel Zip’s expansion plans and further enhance its AI-powered procurement solutions. Zip’s platform simplifies and modernizes the procurement process, making it as intuitive as online shopping while ensuring compliance, efficiency, and cost optimization.

With major enterprises like Snowflake, Discover, and Sephora already benefiting from Zip’s platform, the company has helped businesses collectively save over $4.4 billion in procurement spend. Zip’s Procure-to-Pay (P2P) product line has seen explosive growth, and the company is now expanding globally, focusing on markets in the UK, Germany, and France, where demand has surged by over 200% in the past year.

“Procurement is broken,” said Rujul Zaparde, Co-founder and CEO of Zip. “Our platform has already proven that we can fix inefficiencies, saving our customers billions of dollars and countless hours.” As Zip continues to scale, it is establishing itself as a global leader in procurement orchestration, poised to redefine how businesses interact with suppliers and manage their spend.