Fintech 3.0 Runs on Stablecoins: Norwest VP Jordan Leites Shares Fintech’s Next Infrastructure Gains

“Fintech 3.0 is about the fundamental shift of the plumbing itself. For decades, you’ve had old banking technology and old rails. Money really hasn’t moved in any new formats or new ways. Stablecoins are redefining how money moves in many different types of formats.” — Jordan Leites, vice president of Norwest Venture Partners Norwest Venture […]

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Xero’s Jolly on building a tech roadmap to level playing field for small businesses

It’s not just enterprise companies investing in AI for driving efficiency and lowering costs–but small businesses have a different set of considerations and hurdles for adoption The analytics gap between large corporations and small businesses is getting wider. Enterprise-level companies have entire teams dedicated to calculating customer lifetime value, justifying big investments and crunching numbers […]

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The Credit Building Boom: Innovation or Score Manipulation?

The credit building industry is hot right now. Pick any fintech conference and you’ll find half a dozen new products promising to help consumers build credit faster, easier, and with less risk than ever before. But here’s the uncomfortable question everyone’s dancing around: are these products actually teaching people how to use credit, or are […]

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Banking’s New Playbook for Tech, Regulation, and Partnerships

“One of the most critical things in choosing a partner is cultural alignment. If your bank values high-touch client service, you can’t partner with one that prioritizes chatbots and call centers. It just doesn’t work. You need to know your values match because friction in values leads to friction in the relationship.” — Cate Dawson, […]

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10 Investor Predictions for AI and Data in 2026

From the “$0 to $1B Club” to AI x crypto and infrastructure bets, top investors from Sequoia, Snowflake, and others share where they see real adoption, returns, and disruption in 2026. As AI enters 2026 with a shift from promise to proof, the pressure is on to show real adoption, real economics, and real infrastructure […]

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Double raises $6.5M from investors including Jack Altman and YC to make accountants twice as powerful

Hi there and welcome to Funded, where we spotlight early-stage bets on the future of tech. Today, we’re highlighting Double, the newly rebranded accounting platform (formerly Keeper) that just raised $6.5 million to help firms close books faster, smarter, and with more human impact. Double, which now serves over 4,000 firms across North America, has […]

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From MiCA to GENIUS: Standard Chartered’s Jennifer Lassiter on Building Global Crypto Rules

“MiCA released a regime that was a starting point, and it gives us boundaries to work from. And then we moved to the US, and now we see GENIUS, and we grow, and we iterate from there.“ “I scare everyone in the bank with my [laptop’s] crypto sticker,” joked Jennifer Lassiter, Managing Director and Head […]

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The AI ‘Workslop’ Crisis: Costs and Cures of the Automation Rush

AI is everywhere at work—but quality isn’t. A Snowflake leader and the co-founder of Unframe AI share how companies can prevent workslop from costing their business millions in lost productivity and trust. The rise of AI has pushed organizations into a race toward speed and efficiency. They all want their teams on their toes, delivering […]

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AI Wearables Are Entering Boardrooms, But Are The Safety Rules Ready?

As smart wearables are increasingly adopted by enterprises, execs express concerns and guidance around data privacy. The first wave of user-facing AI hardware came like a literal wave — and disappeared just as quickly. Google Glass, more than a decade old now, never found many takers, but even recent AI hardware attempts like the Humane […]

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Liquidity Risk Is Back on the Table —What Could That Mean for Fintech?

Conditions are ripe for capital to shift into “risk off” mode. But, post-2020, many fintechs already have their wartime footing MIT Economist Rudi Dornbusch had an oft-quoted observation about economics, which also rings true for financial upheaval: “Things take longer to happen than you thought that they would, and then they happen faster than you […]

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