Upward, a Seattle-based fintech startup providing banking-as-a-service infrastructure to underserved business segments, has raised an $8 million seed+ round co-led by Dundee Venture Capital and Breakwater Ventures. The round brings its total funding to $12 million.
Upward is part of the rapidly growing embedded finance space—a market Boston Consulting Group estimates to be worth $185 billion—that enables companies outside of traditional finance to offer products like banking, cards, and payments directly within their own platforms.
The startup joins a list of competitors—such as Unit, Synctera, Bond, Column, and Rize—but sets itself apart by focusing on creators, gig workers, immigrants, and small business operators often excluded by mainstream financial systems.
These “hard to serve” users, as co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Danielle Hill describes them, are core to the company’s mission and success.
“We’re not trying to be the next neobank—we’re powering the next hundred of them,” Hill said in an interview. “Our partners can launch credit or payout products in weeks, not years, because we’ve built the infrastructure to make that possible.”
In a fintech sector crowded with infrastructure providers, Upward is betting that its focus on excluded communities will differentiate its model.
From Small Town to Scalable Fintech Infrastructure
Hill’s path to venture-backed fintech founder is far from typical. She grew up in Puyallup, Washington—a town better known for agriculture than startups—and began her career in insurance before working at Amazon and eventually Remitly.
At Remitly, she helped scale global compliance and risk operations, where she and co-founder Aaron Gregory, the company’s former general counsel, realized the challenges of building financial products for nontraditional users.
“The real innovation in fintech isn’t faster payments or flashier cards; it’s access,” said Hill. “It’s helping people who’ve been shut out of the system build credit, move money, and create stability for the first time.”
They co-founded Upward in 2021 to give vertical SaaS businesses and mono-line fintechs an easier way to launch embedded financial products—especially for users excluded by traditional credit systems.
That vision is beginning to show results: Over the past year, Upward has grown its user base 21-fold, surpassed a $2 million annual revenue run rate, and now processes more than $10 million in monthly payment volume across 15 partners, according to Hill.
Some of those partners include companies like Solo (which aggregates gig income), TipHaus (real-time earnings for hourly workers), and Scout (name and likeness payouts for college athletes).
Rethinking Banking-as-a-Service
While traditional banking-as-a-service platforms often piece together services from multiple third-party vendors, Upward has opted for a vertically integrated approach, according to the company. Its infrastructure combines banking, cards, payments, compliance, and ledgering into a unified system—an effort to streamline implementation and reduce points of failure.
The startup’s partnership with Mastercard supports that mission. Upward customers can launch Mastercard-branded card programs—without managing multiple vendor relationships.
“At Remitly, we often had to build everything ourselves because there was no off-the-shelf solution that met the needs of our users,” Hill said. “Most startups can’t afford to do that. That’s why we built Upward.”
Upward’s round also underscores a growing trend of venture capital flowing outside the coasts. The company’s investors include Tacoma Venture Fund (in Hill’s hometown of Puyallup, WA), Milwaukee Venture Partners, and Tundra Angels (based near co-founder Gregory in Wisconsin).
“You don’t have to be in San Francisco to build something venture-scale,” Hill said. “Our lead investor in our first round was based in Nebraska. This round we had co-leads from Seattle. It’s a different model—but one that works.”
Advice for Fintech Founders Raising Now
Hill is candid about the fundraising process: “Fundraising in fintech can be brutal—you’ll hear 99 noes for every one yes,” she said. “Having a co-founder you trust makes all the difference. You need someone who believes just as deeply, so when the world says no, you both keep showing up anyway.”
Her advice to founders is to understand what kind of business they want to build—venture-backed or not—and choose a funding model accordingly. She also stresses the importance of network: “Relationships drive deal flow,” she said. “The more people you know, the more doors open.”
“I didn’t come from a big city or have a fancy degree,” Hill added. “I just learned early on that hard work and never giving up will take you further than anything else. That mindset has shaped how I build: resourceful, relentless, and focused on creating real impact.”
The Bigger Fintech Picture
Upward isn’t the only player chasing the embedded finance opportunity.
Companies like Unit, Synctera, Bond, Column, Modern Treasury, and Rize are also competing to provide faster, more flexible financial infrastructure.
But where many lean into high-growth fintechs and enterprise clients, Upward is carving out a niche with mission-driven platforms that serve creators, immigrants, student-athletes, and solopreneurs.
As the embedded finance market continues to mature, the differentiators may come down to specialization and Upward hopes to become the backbone of the next wave of inclusive financial products.
Still, the embedded finance space is increasingly competitive and complex. Unit and Modern Treasury are moving upmarket, while newer players are racing to differentiate on developer experience, compliance automation, and faster go-to-market timelines.
Regulatory scrutiny is also rising, especially as the lines blur between technology providers and financial institutions.
Upward’s traction and focus on an untapped segment shows promise, and it’s positioning itself as a contender in the race.
In a fintech market this large and dynamic, the real opportunity belongs to the infrastructure providers who not only move fast—but build for lasting, inclusive change.