College dropouts' fintech startup Slash hits $1.4B valuation with AI banking platform

Khosla, Ribbit Back College Dropouts' Startup Slash at $1.4 Billion Valuation

Slash Financial Inc., a financial services startup run by two 24-year-old founders, has landed a $1.4 billion valuation for its mission to take on larger players like Ramp Inc. and Brex. Slash Financial raised $100 million in the new funding round, the company plans to announce Thursday. Ribbit Capital led the deal, with Khosla Ventures and existing investor Goodwater Capital joining as co-leads. Slash Chief Executive Officer Victor Cardenas and Chief Technology Officer Kevin Bai, dropped out of college at 19 years old to launch the digital banking business. Five years later, Slash is generating nearly $300 million in annualized revenue, Cardenas said, tripling its sales from a year ago. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Plus Signed UpPlus Sign UpPlus Sign Up By continuing, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The startup offers banking and financial services such as checking accounts and expense management, especially for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. It also offers features that are tailored to specific industries from medical spas to construction companies. For example, Slash works with electronics wholesalers based in the US who sell their products internationally, Cardenas said. The startup's platform lets those businesses send and receive payments using stablecoins. Alongside the new financing, Slash is also releasing an AI financial agent, which users can direct to carry out any action they'd otherwise be able to do themselves on the platform, Cardenas said. It's a step toward a new, AI-dominated future of banking, the CEO said. "We're going to be living in a world where every consumer and every business owner has a world-class chief of staff sitting in their pocket." Slash operates in a crowded fintech industry, alongside corporate spending platforms like Ramp, which hit a $32 billion valuation in November, and Brex, which Capital One Financial Corp. agreed to acquire in January for $5.1 billion. (Khosla Ventures is also an investor in Ramp, while Ribbit Capital invested early in Brex.) Closer competitors such as the neobank Mercury Technologies Inc. are designed specifically for startups and entrepreneurs. Cardenas said Slash's focus on building financial tools for specific industries has helped the company find customers. The startup focused on sneaker resellers in its early years, before pivoting the business in 2022 after Kanye West made a series of anti-Semitic comments, leading the resale value of the artist's shoe brand Yeezy to tank. About 70% of all spending processed through Slash before that point was connected to Yeezy sales, Cardenas said. As Slash's revenue tumbled, the startup moved to work with entrepreneurs in other verticals, an expansion that has paid off. The company is now profitable, and "incredibly capital efficient," according to Goodwater Capital principal Luis Echeverria. With the new cash infusion, Slash will invest heavily in its marketing strategy, Cardenas said, as well as its credit offerings.

Slash raises $100M at a $1.4B valuation to expand AI-powered banking platform for online businesses - SiliconANGLE

Slash raises $100M at a $1.4B valuation to expand AI-powered banking platform for online businesses Business banking startup Slash Financial Inc. today announced that it had raised $100 million in new funding on a $1.4 billion valuation for continued product development and to build out its artificial intelligence-driven back office for small and midsized businesses. Founded in 2020, Slash operates a banking platform built for modern online businesses rather than a bank itself. The company offers a product suite that combines Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured business checking and corporate cards with uncapped cashback, expense management, treasury, global payments, invoicing, working capital and stablecoin support into a single platform. Slash offers deposit accounts and card services provided by Column N.A., with Slash operating as the software layer. Corporate cards are issued as Visa charge cards and offer cashback on spend across categories and treasury functionality routes idle cash into money market funds through a partnership with Atomic Invest LLC. The platform also bundles expense management, accounting automation, invoicing and an application programming interface for businesses that want to build custom workflows on top of Slash. Slash has focused on vertical-specific tooling, building features aimed at affiliate marketers, e-commerce operators, agencies, healthcare providers, contractors, wholesalers, online travel agencies and Web3 firms. The company serves more than 5,000 businesses, including voice artificial intelligence startup Bland Inc., accounting software firm Entry Inc., gaming company Triumph Labs Inc. and direct-to-consumer brands Drink Nectar Inc. and Hike Outdoor LLC. The funding round today marks the first time Slash has surpassed a valuation of $1 billion, with the path to unicorn status coming about after the company pivoted earlier on from a company serving sneaker resellers to business banking, with AI thrown in for good measure. That shift has worked a treat, with Slash having surpassed $1 billion in annualized card volume in 2024 before hitting $3 billion in 2025. The Series C round was led by Ribbit Capital, Khosla Ventures and Goodwater Capital LP, with New Enterprise Associates Inc. and Y Combinator also participating. The new capital will fund further product development as the company moves to position its platform as an autonomous finance function for customers. "By the end of the year, Slash will run your financial back office for you," said Victor Cardenas, chief executive officer of Slash, in a blog post. "Every waking second of a business owner's time should be spent on the needle-moving parts of their business: not their finances, not accounting busywork." The investment arrives as venture investors continue to back business banking startups targeting specific industry verticals, a category that includes competitors such as Mercury Technologies Inc. and Ramp Business Corp. Slash has differentiated itself by building workflow software for narrow verticals, including affiliate marketers, crypto-native firms and home services operators.