Latest news with #CanapiVentures
National Post
23-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
Conquest Planning Raises $80 Million Series B Led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives to Bring Personalized, AI-Powered Financial Plans to More Families
Article content WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Conquest Planning Inc., ('Conquest'), a technology platform modernizing financial planning with customized and convenient advice, today announced it has raised $80 million USD ($110 million CAD) in Series B funding led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives. The round attracted additional new investors, including Canapi Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early to growth-stage software and fintech companies, as well as BDC Capital, Citi Ventures, TIAA Ventures and USAA. Existing investors BNY and Portage also participated in the round, which brings Conquest's total funding to over $100 million USD. Article content Conquest was established in 2018 with the foundational belief that financial planning should be accessible, yet bespoke, for retail investors and ultra-high-net-worth families alike. Its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software enables financial advisors, banks, brokerages, wirehouses, insurance firms and pension providers to offer personalized advice at scale. Article content Conquest will leverage this fresh capital to accelerate its U.S. expansion, while also funding the continued evolution of its AI-based Strategic Advice Manager (SAM). SAM's revolutionary AI planning engine performs thousands of complex calculations around every piece of information in an individual's financial plan, which allows advisors and their clients to quickly and accurately understand the impact of different scenarios on clients' goals and recommend the next best financial decision. Conquest will continue to invest in its technology to support more robust plan analysis, enable more efficient onboarding and plan creation and create tools and modules that lead to dynamic content creation. Article content 'In periods of macro volatility, the need for a modern, comprehensive and flexible financial planning platform becomes even more pronounced,' said Jade Mandel, Managing Director at Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, who will join the company's board. 'We're thrilled to partner with Conquest on their Series B as they further expand into the US and continue to empower financial institutions to provide best-in-class financial planning at scale.' Article content Built to empower all people—whether they are in the borrowing, accumulation, or decumulation phase of life—Conquest's technology enables advisors to deliver flexible, dynamic financial plans that adapt to life's changes and accounts for extended lifespans. With this funding, Conquest will further advance its efforts to democratize advice by accelerating and expanding planning capabilities for individuals and families who may not be ready for a financial advisor relationship, but are seeking guidance on financial decisions such as debt management, investment account selection and a first home purchase. Conquest's new offering, dubbed SAM Bytes, enables advisors to remain engaged with self-directed investors during these planning moments to foster a sustained relationship built on trust. Article content 'The era of inefficient and inaccurate trial-and-error-based financial planning is over,' said Dr. Mark Evans, CEO of Conquest Planning. 'As investors are demanding greater personalization in all aspects of their financial lives, we've unlocked the power of automation and real-time intelligence to bring the advice industry into the modern age. Conquest makes it possible for investors at any stage of life to get the financial advice they deserve. We're grateful to our partners for embracing our commitment to making high-quality advice more accessible to a broader range of families.' Article content Conquest has also deepened its capabilities for advisors serving generationally wealthy families by investing in its estate and legacy planning features. These modern solutions offer stronger support for both pre-mortem and post-mortem advice, helping advisors to identify planning gaps and opportunities while providing proactive recommendations aligned with each family's legacy priorities and overall financial plan. Article content 'Wealth management is a core growth driver for our 70+ bank LPs, where financial planning serves as a foundational pillar of the client relationship,' said Neil Underwood, General Partner at Canapi Ventures. 'Conquest's experienced team has built a modern, configurable, and AI-powered platform that enables institutions and their advisors to deliver intelligent, personalized guidance across the full wealth spectrum. We're proud to partner with Conquest as they bring planning-led advice to the forefront of the financial services industry.' Article content Now counting more than 60 percent of the Canadian financial advisor market as users, Conquest is rapidly gaining adoption in the U.S. and U.K. due to burgeoning market demand for advice across the wealth continuum. Currently serving more than 1,000 financial services organizations, including RBC, Manulife, BNY Pershing and Raymond James, Conquest continues to gain market share as it approaches 1.5 million plans created on its platform. Article content 'We're excited to continue working with Conquest given that we have the same goal – to help advisors improve their efficiency and effectiveness in financial planning,' said Ainslie Simmonds, Executive Platform Owner, Wealth Service Platform for BNY. 'Through the power of AI, Conquest allows advisors to spend less time with the data and more time interacting with their clients and we're thrilled to continue to offer this capability to BNY's clients through the Wove platform.' Article content About Conquest Planning: Article content Conquest Planning Article content is a leading financial planning software company with a purpose-driven approach to delivering financial advice. The product-led company is built on the foundational belief that every single person deserves access to great financial advice. Conquest's user base, which spans Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., leverage its intuitively designed product, simple onboarding process, and data-driven artificial intelligence to accelerate the delivery of beautifully designed, hyper-personalized financial plans. Established in 2018, Conquest Planning was founded by a team of financial technology veterans whose track record of success spans over 30 years in the financial planning software space. For more information on Conquest, follow us on Article content and Article content YouTube Article content , and to contact our team, please visit our website at Article content . If you are employed by a company that partners with Conquest and have questions about your access, please contact your corporate office for more details. Article content About Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives: Article content Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is one of the leading investors in alternatives globally, with over $500 billion in assets and more than 30 years of experience. The business invests in the full spectrum of alternatives including private equity, growth equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, sustainability, and hedge funds. Clients access these solutions through direct strategies, customized partnerships, and open-architecture programs. Article content The business is driven by a focus on partnership and shared success with its clients, seeking to deliver long-term investment performance drawing on its global network and deep expertise across industries and markets. Article content The alternative investments platform is part of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which delivers investment and advisory services across public and private markets for the world's leading institutions, financial advisors and individuals. Goldman Sachs has approximately $3.2 trillion in assets under supervision globally as of March 31, 2025. Article content Since 2003, Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives has invested over $13 billion in companies led by visionary founders and CEOs. The team focuses on investments in growth stage and technology-driven companies spanning multiple industries, including enterprise technology, financial technology, consumer and healthcare. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content For Conquest: Article content Article content StreetCred PR Article content Article content conquest@ Article content
Globe and Mail
03-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Fispan doesn't need the cash. So why has Lisa Shields's B.C. fintech just raised $30-million?
One of Canada's most successful women tech entrepreneurs, Lisa Shields, has raised US$30-million for her latest company Fispan Services Inc. in a deal led by U.S. growth equity firm Canapi Ventures. Beyond the headline information, however, the details of the deal reveal how much the financing market has shifted since the tech bubble burst in 2021. The Fispan transaction 'is quite different' from deals of that era, which saw money-losing startups pursue growth at all costs and raise huge financings at ever-inflated valuations, said Tom Davis, Canapi's San Francisco-based general partner. Instead, it is more indicative of a return to saner market dynamics, he said. 'This is a classic growth equity deal.' For one, Fispan didn't need the money. Fispan sells subscription software tools that enable banks to embed services for mid-market companies into enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting platforms such as Oracle NetSuite, Intuit QuickBooks and Xero. That makes it easier for clients to handle cash and accounts management in one place. Fispan has 15 customers, including Bank of Montreal, Toronto-Dominion Bank, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, and is used by 4,500 of their clients. Vancouver entrepreneur whose last business was sold to PayPal for $400-million expands new fintech for banks The nine-year-old Vancouver company generates US$25-million-plus in annual revenue after growing by 80 per cent on average over the past three years. It turned profitable last year and still has half the US$16-million from its last funding in 2021. (Fispan did fall prey to the grow-at-all-costs mindset, Ms. Shields admits, before cutting 30 per cent of staff in 2022 and shifting 'to serve our bank clients with quality and consistency at all costs.') Since Fispan sells to banks, it doesn't spend much on marketing and 'has fantastic unit economics, a proven sales motion, a solid customer base and high net dollar retention within existing customers,' said Mr. Davis. Meanwhile, valuations for fintech companies are running at eight to 12 times revenues, about half what they were at the peak. So why raise at all? 'You're asking the question we had as an internal debate,' said Ms. Shields, an aeronautical engineer by training whose previous company, payments platform provider Hyperwallet Systems Inc., sold to PayPal Holdings Inc. for US$400-million in 2018. The answer is two-fold, she said: to 'remove liquidity pressure' by offering investors a chance to take money off the table. Most of the Canapi-led investment – US$17-million-plus – is going to angel and seed-stage backers in what is called a secondary deal. Canadian deal-making still stuck in a rut, despite the hot markets Secondaries have become commonplace as mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings, have dried up. While companies aren't keen to issue equity or sell at lower valuations, many investors are happy to cash in some gains. In fact, Ms. Shields would have been content to do just a secondary offering and was only willing to sell up to US$15-million in primary equity to minimize dilution. 'We didn't want to take more than we had to,' said Jay Rhind, a Fispan director and partner with Rhino Ventures. The second reason was to find a new investor with expertise and deep pockets. Fispan had had the same group of investors since 2018 – early Fispan investor Rhino led the 2021 round – and Ms. Shields wanted to add a growth equity firm to her ownership group and boardroom that was familiar with the realities of selling to slow-moving banks. To make the deal big enough to interest growth equity firms, which typically invest large amounts in deals, Ms. Shields targeted a US$40-million raise, but existing investors ultimately weren't willing to sell as much as expected. Canapi was the ideal choice for several reasons: Because it invests in a wider range of deals, it was open to investing a lower amount than some growth equity firms. Its leaders hail from finance, financial technology and regulatory affairs (managing partner Gene Ludwig was chief banking regulator of the U.S. during the Clinton administration), and its funders are comprised of 75 financial institutions, many of which could open doors for Fispan. That was important for Ms. Shields, who started Fispan after noticing banks weren't keeping up with digital challengers that were plugging their services into business software platforms. She set out to build tools that would make banking services 'just as delightful and easy to use as those of any fintech' on those platforms. But many fintechs that target mid-market corporations (those with US$30-million to US$2-billion in annual revenues) typically top out before hitting 10,000 customers, she said. Ms. Shields sees a potential market of 250,000 such companies in North America alone and is eying expansion in Britain. 'Nobody has ever had the kind of market share that really makes it interesting. We think with our bank-based distribution model we have a really interesting opportunity to get there,' she said. 'I want guidance from people that have worked with banks. This is about structuring the company to be able to continue high growth with discipline in the face of this radical technological shift that's coming, and we want to be part of it.'
Cision Canada
03-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
FISPAN Raises $30M Series B to Accelerate Embedded Banking Innovation for Mid-Market Businesses
Canapi Ventures leads investment round to accelerate FISPAN's growth VANCOUVER, BC, June 3, 2025 /CNW/ - FISPAN, the industry leader in embedded ERP banking solutions, announced today that it has closed $30 million USD in Series B funding led by fintech and enterprise software investment firm Canapi Ventures. This new capital will accelerate FISPAN's mission of seamlessly integrating banking services directly into businesses' enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and accounting software. Bridging the Gap Between Banks and Businesses For many years banks have invested in host-to-host and API platforms, enabling large enterprises to reap the productivity benefits of connecting to their financial institutions directly. FISPAN packages those connectivity capabilities and enables banks to distribute their treasury products to mid-market and smaller businesses via an easy to install, out-of-the-box, in-ERP plugin. Trusted by the world's largest banks and nearly 5,000 businesses across North America, FISPAN enables banks to deliver modern, integrated client experiences by embedding key financial and banking capabilities directly into their existing ERP system or accounting software. For businesses, this means: Centralized Financial Workflows: Integrating financial transactions and operational workflows into a single system, eliminating inefficiencies and disconnected processes Automated Processes: Built-in automation streamlines routine tasks like payment initiation and approval processes – saving time and lowering costs Fewer Manual Errors: Direct ERP integrations minimize manual uploads and data entry, improving accuracy and minimizing operational risk Through seamless API integration with systems like Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, banks can offer contextual solutions that streamline payables, cash management, and reconciliation. "This Series B funding is a pivotal moment for FISPAN, empowering us to significantly scale our innovation and market reach," said Lisa Shields, CEO & Founder at FISPAN. "Canapi quickly distinguished themselves through their understanding of the embedded ERP banking landscape and our unique opportunity within it. With an LP network of over 75 financial institutions—and partners with banktech operating expertise — Canapi is a natural partner for our next chapter. We're excited to work with Canapi to help more treasury teams optimize their operations." Driving the Next Phase of FISPAN's Expansion In conjunction with the investment, Tom Davis from Canapi Ventures will join FISPAN's board of directors. This new capital will fuel several key growth opportunities: Accelerated Product Development: Deepen AI capabilities, expand ERP and accounting system integrations, and enhance platform capabilities to support full-stack treasury solutions Expanded Market Reach: Scale go-to-market efforts in key regions and significantly grow banking and channel partner networks Strategic Talent Acquisition: Expand FISPAN's world-class team with top-tier talent to accelerate product leadership and customer experience "FISPAN is at the forefront of a fundamental shift in how businesses interact with their banks," said Tom Davis, General Partner at Canapi. "Their proven ability to deliver highly sought-after embedded finance solutions positions them for tremendous growth. Our investment reflects our confidence in their visionary team and their capacity to build a leading platform that drives efficiency and value for both financial institutions and their corporate clients." About FISPAN FISPAN is a leading fintech company that seamlessly integrates banks with their clients' enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting systems. Founded in 2016, FISPAN provides innovative ERP banking solutions that eliminate the complexities and frustrations of traditional banking services. By embedding banking services directly into ERP and accounting software, FISPAN streamlines financial workflows, reduces costs, minimizes manual errors, and enhances efficiency for businesses of all sizes. For more information, head to the United States – Canapi brings unmatched sector experience and best-in-class knowledge, connections, and credibility to founders. For more information, visit
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rally UXR Secures $11M Series A to Transform How Enterprises Conduct User Research
Canapi Ventures Leads Round to Accelerate Adoption of Rally's User Research CRM Platform Across Product-Driven Organizations NEW YORK, June 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Rally UXR, the leading User Research CRM platform, today announced it has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round led by Canapi Ventures with participation from existing investors Stage 2 Capital and Y Combinator. Rally is redefining how enterprises manage and engage with their users for research—putting customer voices at the center of product innovation. Rally's SaaS-based platform streamlines the way research teams connect with users by automating participant selection, screening, outreach, scheduling, and incentives—dramatically reducing the time and complexity typically required to conduct high-quality research at scale. By embedding research operations into a single, secure, and compliant CRM, Rally enables teams to bring products to market faster that better fit the needs of their customers, generating more revenue in the process. "Rapid innovation demands equally rapid user insight," said Oren Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Rally. "Rally is purpose-built for the enterprise, helping teams connect directly with their customers to deliver the rich, actionable insights needed to shape exceptional product experiences—while building stronger, long-term customer relationships." Rally's platform is trusted by forward-thinking companies including Adobe, Sonos, SurveyMonkey, HelloFresh, GitLab, MongoDB, and Monzo Bank, and has helped leading brands manage and conduct research with more than 10 million users. Since its founding in 2021, Rally has experienced 3x year-over-year revenue growth and was backed by Y Combinator through its Winter 2022 cohort. "At the heart of Rally's offering is the conviction that great products start with great user research," said Walker Forehand, president and general partner at Canapi Ventures. "We're excited to partner with the Rally team to help more organizations unlock faster, deeper user understanding—and translate it into real product impact." "We obsess over the customer experience at Webflow, and Rally has transformed the way we engage with our users for research," said Brad Orego, head of research at Webflow. "We've been able to dramatically increase the volume and quality of research possible while simultaneously improving governance and security. With Rally, our entire Product team is empowered to confidently run their own research, accelerating product development, streamlining operational processes, and ultimately delivering a better experience for our customers." Rally's leadership team brings deep experience in building secure, scalable enterprise platforms, including a product and engineering team comprised of ex-HubSpot talent. Their collective mission: to make great research easy. About Rally UXRRally UXR is the User Research CRM trusted by leading companies to generate fast, high-value user insights that drive better product decisions. Based in New York City, Rally helps research and product teams automate participant management and streamline research workflows across the enterprise. Learn more at About Canapi VenturesCanapi is a B2B software and financial technology venture and growth equity platform investing in early to growth-stage companies offering disruptive alternatives to outdated business models and technologies. Backed by the Canapi Alliance – a network of over 70 of the leading financial institutions across the United States – Canapi's partners have decades of hands-on experience in financial services. Canapi brings unmatched sector experience and best-in-class knowledge, connections, and credibility to founders. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Rally UXR
