Date: 2026-05-10
Brief: Find AI, fintech and Web3 companies that raised <$10M in the last 3–6 months across US, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, plus active PR / marketing roles.
Note: Source coverage was deepest for US, UK, Singapore and Australia. Hong Kong yielded one major raise (Inference Research, $20M) which is excluded for being above the $10M ceiling — a finer trawl through Cyberport / HKSTP cohorts is recommended for next run.
| Company | Sector | Round / Amount | Date | Location | What they do | Key investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrada | Fintech / data infra | Seed — $3.8M | May 5, 2026 | New York, US | Unified API delivering real-time card + banking transaction data for autonomous finance | Bain Capital Ventures, QED, Nyca Partners, Visa, Mastercard |
| Nava (Nava Labs) | AI + Web3 | Seed — $8.3M | Apr 14, 2026 | US | Escrow + verification layer for autonomous AI financial agents | Polychain, Archetype, FalconX, Hack VC, EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan |
| Pumpcade | Web3 / prediction markets | Seed — $5M | Apr 14, 2026 | US (remote) | Real-time, instant-resolution prediction markets tied to livestreams | Foundation Capital, Jump Crypto (prior pre-seed: Pump.fun) |
| Kaaj | AI / fintech | Seed — $3.8M | Nov 19, 2025 | US | Agentic AI credit-intelligence platform for small business lending | Kindred Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Karman, Pythia |
| Cavela | AI / sourcing (commerce-fintech adjacent) | Seed — $6.6M | Nov 19, 2025 | San Francisco / Mexico City | AI agents that source + negotiate with global manufacturers | XYZ Venture Capital, Susa Ventures, Crossover Capital |
| Checkstep | AI / Trust & Safety SaaS | Seed — £3M (~$3.8M) | Apr 28, 2026 | London, UK | AI-powered content moderation + trust & safety infrastructure | Alea Capital Partners, Slow Ventures, LookAI |
| Nodu | Fintech / stablecoin infra | Pre-seed — €1.25M (~$1.45M) | Dec 2025 | London, UK | Compliant stablecoin rails + off-ramps for banks and fintechs | Digital Space Ventures (early Revolut investor) |
| Atlas | AI / fintech (accounting) | Seed — $6M | Apr 2026 | Singapore | Vertical AI platform helping independent accounting firms scale | Accel, Stellaris Venture Partners |
| Kimia | AI (industrial / chemical) | Seed — $7M | Apr 7, 2026 | Sydney, Australia | Chemical Intelligence platform turning institutional knowledge into commercial workflows | Airtree Ventures, Blackbird Ventures, Skip Capital |
| Chime Labs | AI (vertical SaaS) | Pre-seed — $0.9M | Apr 2026 | Sydney, Australia | AI-powered receptionist for trades and service businesses | 500 Global |
Hong Kong note: Inference Research closed a $20M seed in Feb 2026 (quant + AI for finance) — excluded from the table for being above the $10M ceiling, but worth tracking.
| Company | Founder / CEO | Marketing / Growth lead | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrada | Salman Syed (CEO, ex-Marqeta NA lead) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/salmanhsyed/ | Not yet publicly named — early team; pitch CEO directly | — |
| Nava | Vyas Krishnan (CEO, ex-EigenLayer first hire) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/vyaskrishnan/ | Brianna Montgomery (COO; ran Strategy & Growth at EigenLayer) | search "Brianna Montgomery Nava" on LinkedIn |
| Pumpcade | Harrison Leggio (a.k.a. PopPunkOnChain) | https://www.linkedin.com/company/pumpcade (founder uses pseudonym on socials) | CPO @steoniy — community-led growth; no formal marketing hire | — |
| Kaaj | Utsav Shah (CEO, ex-Uber/Cruise) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/utsavshah17/ | Shivi Sharma (President; ex-AmEx, Varo) handles GTM | search "Shivi Sharma Kaaj" on LinkedIn |
| Cavela | Anthony Sardain (CEO) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/sardain/ | Founder-led marketing today | — |
| Checkstep | Guillaume Bouchard (CEO, ex-Facebook AI Integrity) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbouchar/ | No standalone marketing head listed — pitch CEO | https://uk.linkedin.com/company/checkstep |
| Nodu | Alex Novozhenov (CEO, ex-Crassula) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/novozhenov/ | Alona Belinska (Nodu team) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/alona-belinska/ |
| Atlas | Arpit Maheshwari (CEO, ex-Stellaris) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/arpit-maheshwari/ | Founder-led marketing | — |
| Kimia | Farid Mirmohseni, PhD (CEO) | https://www.linkedin.com/in/fmirmo/ | Founder-led — hiring GTM | — |
| Chime Labs | Alexis Griveau & Mathew Pretel (co-founders, ex-Google) | search on LinkedIn | Founder-led | — |
Each message is short, specific to the raise, and ends with a soft CTA pointing to shilikajain.com.
Astrada — Salman Syed
Hi Salman, congrats on the $3.8M seed and getting Visa + Mastercard on the cap table. Most fintech infra companies get one wave of tier-1 press at announcement, then disappear. Founder-led organic PR (LinkedIn POVs, narrative-led pieces in The Generalist / Fintech Brainfood) extends that runway by months for very little spend. If useful I can share a 90-day plan tailored to Astrada — happy to walk you through it: shilikajain.com.
Nava — Vyas Krishnan
Hi Vyas, the AI-agent escrow framing in your stealth-exit story landed cleanly with Polychain + Archetype. The next gap is owning the conversation around 'agent safety in finance' before a16z or Stripe co-opts it. I help technical founders build that POV organically (LinkedIn cadence, podcasts, thoughtful op-eds) without retainer-heavy PR firms. Would love to share what's worked for similar EigenLayer-adjacent founders — shilikajain.com.