Pliant Raises $80 Million Series C to Open B2B Payments to AI Agents

Pliant Secures Series C Funding to Power AI-Enabled Payment Automation

Berlin-based fintech Pliant has closed an oversubscribed $80 million Series C funding round, positioning itself at the intersection of B2B payments and AI agents. Seaya Nova and Speedinvest led the round, with participation from Illuminate Financial, Motive Partners, and Molten Ventures1

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. This latest capital injection comes as Pliant surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, following three consecutive years of doubling its business1

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The funding will accelerate Pliant's expansion in the United States and Canada, support entry into additional international markets, and advance its AI roadmap2

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. This round follows an April 2025 Series B that brought in $40 million, pushing the company's total funding past $100 million2

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Opening B2B Payments to AI Agents Through Model Context Protocol

Pliant's modular platform combines commercial card issuing, payment accounts, foreign exchange, and spend management in a single infrastructure. What sets this raise apart is the company's strategic move to open its payment workflows directly to AI agents. External agents from ChatGPT, Claude, and custom in-house automations can now connect through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), embedding payment capabilities into broader business processes with built-in permissions, controls, and audit trails1

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Pliant already deploys its own AI agents to automate recurring finance work for customers. By extending this capability to third-party agents, the company is positioning itself as the licensed infrastructure layer that AI-native companies and established businesses need to execute payments safely and compliantly2

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"Whether an established business wants AI to automate its payment processes with the right guardrails, or an AI-native company needs a licensed partner that moves as fast as it does, Pliant is built for that," said Malte Rau, Pliant's CEO and co-founder1

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. Rau emphasized that Pliant has been API-first from day one, making the platform naturally suited for AI integration2

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Why Licensed Infrastructure Matters for AI-Enabled Payment Automation

As AI agents increasingly handle financial transactions, the need for regulated, auditable infrastructure becomes critical. Vinoth Jayakumar, general partner at Seaya Nova, highlighted this dynamic: "When agents move money, someone still has to be licensed, auditable and liable, and that is the layer Pliant owns"1

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. He noted that AI has made infrastructure more valuable, much like previous software waves2

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Pliant operates as a principal member of Visa and Mastercard, issuing commercial cards in 13 currencies across 32 countries under its European e-money license. The company also works through regulated partners in the UK and US1

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. This regulatory foundation allows Pliant to serve not just direct customers but also banks, fintechs, and software platforms that use its infrastructure to run their own commercial card offerings.

What This Signals for B2B Payments and AI-Native Companies

Pliant's customer base spans travel, insurance, and AI-native companies, reflecting the growing demand for payment workflows that integrate seamlessly with automated business processes1

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. The company employs more than 300 people across eight offices, underscoring its operational scale as it moves into North America.

The broader market is watching similar developments. Card networks are testing agent-driven payments: in October, AI agents began paying supplier invoices in a pilot with Visa, BILL, and Billtrust. Synchrony is exploring placing store cards inside ChatGPT, while US rival Ramp hit a $60 billion valuation in October1

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For businesses evaluating AI-enabled payment automation, watch how Pliant's expansion unfolds in North America and whether its MCP integration becomes a standard for connecting payment infrastructure to AI agents. The short-term implication is faster, more automated B2B payments with compliance baked in. Long-term, this could reshape how AI-native companies and traditional enterprises manage complex payment workflows, making licensed fintech infrastructure the invisible backbone of agent-driven commerce.