Collide Capital closed a $95 million second fund in April 2026, targeting early-stage fintech and future-of-work startups. The fund is led by Brian Hollins and Aaron Samuels. It represents one data point in a broader pattern of capital flowing back into fintech after a contraction period.
Fintech funding peaked in 2021, contracted sharply through 2023, and began recovering in 2025. The recovery is selective. Investors are not funding every category equally. The money is concentrating in specific areas where unit economics have been proven and regulatory paths are clear.
Where Capital Is Flowing
Embedded finance continues to attract investment. The thesis is straightforward: financial services delivered through non-financial platforms capture users at the point of need. Payment processing, lending, and insurance products embedded in SaaS platforms, marketplaces, and enterprise tools represent a growing share of new fintech investment.
Compliance and regulatory technology is experiencing a funding surge. AI-powered compliance monitoring, automated KYC/AML systems, and regulatory change tracking tools address a pain point that grows with every new regulation. The ViClarity AI-powered Reg Monitor, launched in April 2026, is an example of this category. Tools that scan federal and state regulatory sources, summarise changes, and integrate updates into compliance workflows reduce the operational cost of regulatory compliance.
B2B payments infrastructure is receiving disproportionate attention relative to consumer payments. Cross-border payment rails, real-time settlement systems, and treasury management tools for mid-market companies represent large addressable markets with lower customer acquisition costs than consumer fintech.
AI-native financial services are a newer category. These include AI-powered underwriting, automated financial advisory tools, and intelligent fraud detection systems. The differentiation from previous generations of fintech AI is that these products use generative AI for customer-facing interactions, not just back-end processing.
What Is Getting Funded Less
Consumer neobanks are struggling to raise capital. The unit economics of consumer banking with no fees and high customer acquisition costs have not improved. Investors who funded neobanks in 2021 are redirecting capital toward B2B fintech and infrastructure plays.
Cryptocurrency exchanges and DeFi protocols face a more cautious funding environment. While blockchain technology continues to attract infrastructure investment, the speculative trading platforms that defined the 2021-2022 crypto boom are not attracting the same level of VC interest.
Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is consolidating rather than attracting new entrants. The category proved its consumer demand but the economics require scale that favours incumbents over new startups.
What This Means for Your Business
Fintech investment is shifting from consumer-facing products to infrastructure, compliance, and B2B services. If you are building in these spaces, the funding environment is favourable. If you are serving financial institutions, the tools they are buying are changing.
FortySeven’s Banking and Fintech Consulting practice helps financial institutions evaluate and implement the fintech tools that are reshaping their operations. From compliance automation to embedded finance integration, we build the infrastructure that modern financial services run on.
Contact us at fortyseven47.com/contact-us
