Randy Fernando raises $30M seed for Maximum to replace legacy bank cores #

Miami-based fintech startup Maximum has come out of stealth with a $30 million seed round, described by the company as one of the largest early-stage raises the sector has seen, to build what it calls an AI-native operating system for banks.

CRV led the round, with Pear VC, Restive, Plug and Play Ventures and Anthemis also participating. Several of those investors had previously backed founder Randy Fernando’s earlier companies.

Fernando previously founded Vault, sold to savings app Acorns in 2017, and Power, acquired by card-issuance platform Marqeta in 2023. Maximum is his third fintech infrastructure company.

Speaking to American Banker, Fernando said the platform is designed to give banks granular control over products and features, including the ability to offer personalized or dynamically configured offerings to customers. One use case cited at launch is an AI compliance agent that checks a bank’s daily transactions against the US Treasury’s OFAC watchlist each night and automatically routes alerts and recommendations to compliance staff.

More than 70% of the roughly 5,000 US banks still run on core systems built in the last century, before mobile banking, real-time payments and digital currencies, according to the company. Data from the American Bankers Association, cited by American Banker, found that 76% of surveyed banks rely on one of three vendors: Fiserv, Jack Henry or FIS. Fiserv alone holds core contracts with 42% of those surveyed.

Caitlin Bolnick Rellas, General Partner at CRV, said in the announcement that “incremental improvements are no longer enough” in banking technology and that Fernando has “repeatedly identified foundational shifts before the broader market.”

Maximum, launched from Miami, says it is already working with at least one bank customer. The seed funding will be used to build out the platform and expand its early client base.

Source: GlobeNewswire