Revolut CEO wants to revolutionize Venture Capital with $250M AI-Powered Fund 🤖💸; AI-native stablecoins bank? 🤔🏦
You're missing out big time... Weekly Recap 🔁
👋 Hey, Linas here! Welcome back to a 🔓 weekly free edition 🔓 of my daily newsletter. Each day, I focus on 3 stories that are making a difference in the financial technology space. Coupled with things worth watching & most important money movements, it’s the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Tech.
If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you missed this week:
The Ultimate Beginners Guide to AI 📚🤖 [5,500+ pages of knowledge to transform your understanding from beginner to AI authority]
The Ultimate List of Stablecoin Use Cases 🪙 [discover how stablecoins are quietly revolutionizing finance, business, and daily life across industries]
The AI Strategy Playbook that Builds Billion‑Dollar Moats 💸🤖 [Uncover playbooks and best practices from leading organisations and turn AI hype into bottom‑line dominance]
Chime's S-1: riding the Durbin Moat to IPO, but is the water deep enough for long-term investors? 🤔📊 [breaking down the 362-page S-1 filing, uncovering the key financial facts and figures, why they matter, and what’s next for Chime + bonus deep dives into upcoming IPOs of Klarna, Circle & more!]
Klarna’s AI-powered efficiency masks growing credit concerns 📊🤖 [deep dive into Klarna’s Q1 2025 results, unpacking the most important numbers, what they mean & what’s next + bonus dive into its biggest competitor Affirm, Klarna’s S-1 and Agentic AI Playbook for Finance]
JPMorgan's Crypto Pivot: Jamie Dimon finally embraces Bitcoin despite long-standing skepticism 😳📈 [what it’s all about & what it means for the industry as such + bonus deep dive into JPM’s latest financials & 110+ real-world stablecoin use cases]
Affirm: the profitable growth breakthrough Wall Street missed 💳📈 [deep dive into BNPL giant’s latest financials, unpacking the most important numbers, what they mean & why Affirm might be worth your time and money in 2025 & beyond]
Most banks will not survive the AI revolution 🤖🏦 [unpacking the latest report on AI in banking, what are the implications and what’s next + bonus Agentic AI Playbook for Finance and the Ultimate Beginners Guide to AI & more!]
Kraken to launch 24/7 tokenized stock trading 😳💸 [what it’s all about & what it means for the future of FinTech + more reads on Kraken inside]
The Ultimate List of Resources about AI Agents 🤖 [unlock the power of AI Agents: your gateway to the future of autonomous agentic systems]
The Ultimate List of Top Seed Investors of 2025 💸🚀 [discover the top 100 people shaping the future of startups - and how to get their attention]
As for today, here are the 2 incredible FinTech stories that are changing the world of financial technology as we know it. This was yet another big week in the financial technology space, so make sure to check all the above stories.
Revolut CEO wants to revolutionize Venture Capital with $250M AI-Powered Fund 🤖💸
The news 🗞️ Nik Storonsky, founder & CEO of FinTech giant Revolut, has just secured $250 million for his venture capital firm QuantumLight, marking yet another step in bringing artificial intelligence to investment decision-making.
The London-based firm, co-founded with CEO Ilya Kondrashov, is redefining how venture investments are made through a data-driven approach that aims to minimize human bias.
Let’s take a look at this, understand why it matters, and what’s next.
More on this 👉 QuantumLight's proprietary AI platform, Aleph, analyzes over 10 billion data points and tracks more than 700,000 venture-backed companies globally. What sets the firm apart is its claim that all 17 of its investments to date have been recommended by this AI model, effectively "almost eliminating human judgment from the investment process," according to Kondrashov.
The fund focuses on Series B and C rounds across multiple sectors, including AI, Web3, FinTech, SaaS, and digital marketplaces. While maintaining no geographic restrictions, 70% of its current portfolio companies are based in the United States. Storonsky and Kondrashov contributed approximately 25% of the total funding, with additional backing from unnamed billionaire tech founders, venture capitalists, and institutional investors. Skin in the game 😤
Zoom out 🔎 But here comes the interesting part.
Beyond just providing capital, QuantumLight offers portfolio companies access to operational expertise derived from Revolut's extraordinary growth trajectory. The firm has developed detailed "playbooks" based on Storonsky's management philosophies.
Following its previously released manual on driving high performance, QuantumLight has now launched a second playbook focused on talent acquisition strategies.
"Our goal is to make the invisible operating systems behind iconic companies like Revolut visible and replicable," said Kondrashov. "Founders shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to building high-performing teams."
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
What’s next? 🤔 At the core, QuantumLight's approach represents a significant shift in how investment decisions could be made in the future. If the firm demonstrates superior returns through its AI-first strategy, we can expect an accelerated adoption of similar methodologies across the venture capital industry and broader financial services. This development also signals a broader trend toward algorithmic decision-making in finance, where traditional intuition-based approaches are being supplemented or replaced by data-driven systems. The long-term implications could thus reshape power dynamics in venture capital, potentially democratizing access to funding by reducing reliance on established networks and personal connections. Of course, the ultimate measure of success here will be performance over time. QuantumLight therefore faces the challenge of demonstrating that its AI systems can consistently identify winners across different market conditions. Looking ahead, as AI systems become more sophisticated, we may see a hybrid approach emerge as the new standard - combining algorithmic efficiency with human judgment in strategic areas. QuantumLight hence represents not just a new VC firm, but possibly a glimpse into the future of financial decision-making, where systematic processes guided by AI could become the norm rather than the exception. AI-powered is the way to go 🤖📈
ICYMI:
AI-native stablecoins bank? 🤔🏦
The news 🗞️ Sean Neville, the co-founder of stablecoin giant Circle, is set to launch his next ambitious venture at the intersection of artificial intelligence and financial services.
Catena Labs, his new startup, recently announced an $18 million seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, signaling significant investor confidence in the concept of AI-integrated banking infrastructure.
Breyer Capital, Circle Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures also participated. This diverse investor base reflects the broad appeal of Neville's vision for transforming how financial transactions will be conducted in an AI-dominated future.
Let’s take a quick look at this.
More on this 👉 Neville's latest endeavor represents a natural evolution from his previous success with Circle, which became the world's second-largest stablecoin issuer before filing for a public offering earlier this year. After departing Circle's day-to-day operations in 2020 while remaining on the board, Neville spent considerable time researching the artificial intelligence landscape. His conclusion was decisive: traditional financial infrastructure cannot adequately serve an economy where AI agents become the primary transaction facilitators.
The core premise behind Catena Labs addresses what Neville characterizes as fundamental inadequacies in existing financial systems. The current banking infrastructure was designed for human-to-human transactions and remains poorly equipped to handle the speed, scale, and unique requirements of AI-driven commerce. These legacy systems present barriers, including slow processing times, high costs, global friction points, and inflexibility that hinder the natural evolution toward automated financial interactions.
Catena Labs has developed what they term an "AI-native financial institution" built specifically to accommodate artificial intelligence agents as primary users rather than obstacles to be managed. The company has already released an Agent Commerce Kit, an open-source framework that establishes protocols for verifiable AI agent identity and automated payment execution. This foundational technology aims to solve critical challenges such as "know your agent" verification and secure authentication systems designed specifically for artificial intelligence actors.
Zoom out 🔎 The startup's approach integrates stablecoins as what they describe as "AI-native money," leveraging the near-instantaneous, low-cost, global transaction capabilities that regulated digital currencies like USDC provide.
However, Neville emphasizes that while stablecoins solve certain problems within their framework, the technology stack extends beyond cryptocurrency integration to encompass comprehensive financial services redesigned for AI interactions.
ICYMI:
Catena Labs is now working toward critical milestones, including product releases and obtaining necessary financial licenses to operate as a regulated institution. The company plans to employ AI agents for internal operations while maintaining human oversight for compliance, risk management, and regulatory reporting functions.
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
What’s next? 🤔 The emergence of Catena Labs represents another inflection point for both the FinTech sector and the broader financial services industry. It’s clear now that the convergence of artificial intelligence and financial infrastructure creates opportunities for unprecedented efficiency gains while simultaneously introducing complex regulatory and operational challenges that traditional institutions have yet to fully address. Looking at the bigger picture, the concept of AI-native banking could fundamentally reshape transaction processing, potentially reducing costs and friction while enabling new business models that were previously impossible under conventional financial frameworks. As AI agents become more sophisticated and autonomous, the demand for financial services specifically designed for artificial intelligence interactions will likely only accelerate. Stablecoins thus appear positioned to play an increasingly central role in this transformation, serving as the preferred medium for AI-driven transactions due to their programmable nature and global accessibility. This development could further accelerate mainstream adoption of digital currencies while establishing new use cases that extend far beyond current cryptocurrency applications. Bullish.
ICYMI: Most banks will not survive the AI revolution 🤖🏦 [unpacking the latest report on AI in banking, what are the implications and what’s next + bonus Agentic AI Playbook for Finance and the Ultimate Beginners Guide to AI & more!]
🔎 What else I’m watching
Circle Payments Network Launched 🚀 Circle has launched the Circle Payments Network (CPN), a blockchain-powered protocol designed to revolutionize global payments. CPN aims to modernize the $190 trillion cross-border payments market by offering faster, more transparent, and cost-effective transactions. The network supports various use cases, including B2B payments, remittances, and payroll. Early adopters like Alfred Pay, Tazapay, RedotPay, and Conduit are already leveraging CPN to facilitate stablecoin-to-fiat transactions in key markets. CPN's unique architecture combines traditional payment reliability with blockchain speed and resilience, promising to enhance global financial transactions. ICYMI: Circle wants to revolutionize global money transfers with its stablecoin payment network 👀🪙 [what it’s all about here & what’s the USP + bonus deep dives into Circle’s IPO & a list of 110+ real-world use cases of stablecoins]
UBS Introduces AI Avatars of Analysts 🤖 UBS is utilizing AI models from OpenAI and Synthesia to create video avatars of its analysts for client interactions. The bank has already developed virtual versions of around 35 of its 720 analysts, with plans for wider deployment. The process involves capturing the analysts' likenesses and voices in a studio, then using a language model to generate scripts and realistic AI-generated videos from their reports. This initiative aims to save analysts time and cater to the growing demand for short-form videos. While participation is optional for analysts, UBS acknowledges that the technology is not yet perfect, particularly with certain accents. The bank plans to ramp up production to 5,000 videos per year, significantly increasing its current output of 1,000 videos annually. ICYMI:
Google Introduces AI Shopping Agent 🛒 Google has launched an AI-powered shopping experience within its search results. This new feature allows users to set a desired price for a product, and the AI agent will make the purchase once the price is met. Users can also virtually try on clothes and review transactions before payment. The AI can track prices and notify users when a product reaches their target price. Set to roll out in the US soon, this feature aims to help users shop within their budget. Users can track prices, set preferences, and let the AI handle the checkout process securely via Google Pay. ICYMI:
💸 Following the Money
AI-powered B2B embedded finance platform CrediLinq has closed a $8.5M Series A funding round led by OM/VC and MS&AD Ventures.
Greenlite AI, an AI agent platform for financial services, announced a $15M Series A funding round, bringing its total capital raised to $20M.
Digital pension provider Penfold has raised £3.9M in a funding round led by Gresham House Ventures.
👋 That’s it for today! Thank you for reading and have a relaxing Sunday! And if you enjoyed this newsletter, invite your friends and colleagues to sign up:
One of my favourite weekly reads this months - thanks!