Flex, a financial technology startup specializing in AI-powered private banking for middle-market business owners, has raised an additional $70 million in a Series B1 funding round led by Ryan Smith’s Halo investment firm. The capital will support Flex’s global expansion with new cross-border payment capabilities using stablecoins and multi-currency accounts.
- Raised $70M Series B1 led by Halo fund
- Supports stablecoin cross-border payments in 100+ countries
- Targets 3 million global middle-market business owners
What happened
Flex announced the completion of a $70 million Series B1 funding round, led by Halo, the investment firm founded by Ryan Smith alongside Accel’s Ryan Sweeney. This round follows Flex’s previous $60 million Series B raise six months ago, bringing total equity raised to $180 million alongside $300 million in debt. The company currently employs 110 people and anticipates doubling its headcount by year-end.
The new funds enable Flex to expand the reach of its AI-native private bank beyond the US. The platform now offers stablecoin payment rails across more than 100 countries, multi-currency accounts available in 76 countries and 32 currencies, and private credit facilities in over 20 countries. This broad international footprint aims to streamline multi-jurisdictional financial management for middle-market business owners.
Why it matters
Flex focuses on a highly underserved customer segment: middle-market business owners who juggle complex financial operations across multiple entities, currencies, and countries. This group accounts for roughly 350,000 owners in the US responsible for around 40% of private-sector payroll and an estimated 3 million worldwide. Their business and personal finances are deeply intertwined, yet traditional banks treat them separately, resulting in fragmented and expensive financial solutions.
By integrating stablecoins into invisible payment rails, Flex facilitates near-instant cross-border settlements without requiring users to manage crypto wallets directly. This capability leverages recent industry advances, such as Visa’s $7 billion annualized settlement pilot and increasing genuine stablecoin payment volumes, signaling stablecoins’ maturation into practical business infrastructure. Flex’s agentic banking platform combines credit, payments, treasury, and AI finance agents to automate and simplify complex financial workflows.
What to watch next
Flex plans to further enhance its product roadmap by introducing personal credit and rewards cards, expanded treasury services, travel offerings, and mortgage products. These additions will deepen its value proposition by covering more aspects of the financial lives of middle-market business owners who often integrate their business and personal finances.
The involvement of Halo fund, with strategic distribution across professional sports leagues like the NBA and NHL, presents an unusual but innovative channel for Flex to reach its target clients beyond traditional Silicon Valley networks. As Flex’s payment volume grows—already at $10 billion annualized and increasing roughly fourfold year over year—the fintech’s ability to scale internationally and extend agentic banking capabilities will be key metrics to follow.