In 2019, a group of fintechs with names like Dave and Varo stood poised to disrupt the U.S. banking giants. Built around a digital-first strategy that didn’t require branches and tellers, the upstarts looked like the wave of the future—until then stumbled badly in the face of a shifting economic and regulatory climate. One of these fintechs, or neo-banks if you prefer, found a way to defy this broader trend: Today, the San Francisco-based startup Upgrade is sitting pretty with a diversified line of businesses and a fresh infusion of capital.

On Thursday, Upgrade announced it has raised $165 million in a Series G funding round led by Neuberger Berman Funds, and that it now has 7.5 million customers across its various offerings, which range from checking accounts to loans to buy-now-pay-lat

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