Edmund, a Czech startup developing an AI-powered debugging platform for industrial maintenance, has raised €2.5 million in funding led by FORWARD.one, with participation from University2Ventures and Tensor Ventures.  Check out an earlier Tech.eu interview with Jakub Szlaur,  CEO and founder of Edmund. Manufacturing is entering a period of structural strain. As production systems become more complex and data-intensive, the availability of skilled engineers is moving in the opposite direction. In Europe alone, tens of thousands of engineering roles remain unfilled, while around 20 per cent of the current workforce is expected to retire within the next decade. This combination of rising complexity and shrinking expertise is leaving companies increasingly dependent on fragmented documentation, legacy systems, and institutional knowledge to keep operations running, driving costly downtime, slow diagnostics, and growing operational risk across global supply chains. Edmund addresses this gap by deploying AI agents that connect technical documentation, PLC projects, maintenance logs, and real-time machine data into a single system. Rather than acting as a generic chatbot, the platform functions as an operational layer inside the factory, enabling technicians to identify faults, understand root causes, and receive step-by-step guidance within minutes. In practice, this approach significantly reduces the time required to diagnose issues, cutting troubleshooting from hours or days to minutes. In manufacturing, the majority of downtime is spent diagnosing faults rather than fixing them, often up to 80 per cent of the total time. Edmund cuts this analysis phase by up to 90 per cent, dramatically reducing overall downtime and accelerating recovery. At Amcor Flexibles, for example, Edmund’s system reduced average repair times by 26 per cent in total, saving approximately 440 man-hours annually, per factory. Founded in 2023, Edmund is designed to be hardware-agnostic and compatible with a wide range of industrial systems.  “The real challenge is not a lack of data, but a lack of context,” said Jakub Szlaur, co-founder and CEO of Edmund. “We’re building AI agents that understand how machines actually work, down to the PLC project level, so instead of searching through documentation or waiting for experts, engineers can act immediately.” “Edmund is solving one of the most overlooked challenges in industrial maintenance: how knowledge is transferred and applied under pressure,” said Beau Anne-Chilla, Partner at FORWARD.one. “Their approach has the potential to become a foundational layer for modern manufacturing.” According to Dr Johannes Triebs, Founding Partner at U2V (ex-Earlybird-X), Edmund is turning the factory floor into an intelligent, self-diagnosing system that gives manufacturers real-time answers instead of costly downtime.  “Our corporate network spans exactly the industrial players Edmund needs to accelerate its expansion, and we look forward to helping Edmund expand across Europe." The company will use the new funding to grow its team, expand across European and US markets, and further develop its platform toward fully contextual, AI-driven troubleshooting and diagnostics for industrial operations.

Building Strong Foundations: ECE Quality Consultation and Healthcare Management in Education Early childhood education plays a vital role in shaping a child’s cognitive, emotional, and social development. The quality of learning experiences during these formative years has a lasting impact on academic success and personal growth. For educational institutions in Bahrain, establishing strong early learning […] The post Building Strong Foundations: ECE Quality Consultation and Healthcare Management in Education appeared first on TechBullion.

After stalling in 2022 and 2023 amid rising interest rates, tighter funding conditions, and heightened regulatory scrutiny, the fintech mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is reopening, with transaction volume expected to rise from US$25 billion in 2024 to US$40-60 billion over the next 24 months. According to Luciano Colos, CEO and co-founder of PitchGrade.com, an AI-powered research platform for entrepreneurs to create and refine pitch decks, this growth will be driven by consolidation in the banking-as-a-service (BaaS) industry, demand for regtech solutions, and payment modernization efforts. BaaS consolidation In a new analysis, Colos looks at the state of fintech M&A in 2026 and shares predictions for what to come for the state through 2027. He names consolidation in the BaaS sector as one of the most likely transaction themes in 2026 and 2027, driven by distressed valuations among players who struggled in 2023 and 2024. These players included Synapse, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2024, Blue Ridge Bank, which terminated consent orders in 2025, and the Evolve Bank data breach in 2024, which forced the company to pay US$11.9 million in settlement for a class action lawsuit. This wave of failures created a category-wide credibility problem. As a result, acquirers are picking up infrastructure at a discount. At the same time, the BaaS companies that survived face tougher regulations where having a large size and capital is essential for survival. According to Colos, the most promising targets in this category include Unit, Column, and Increase. Unit is a leading US embedded finance startup offering ready-to-launch solutions that help software companies transform into “money hubs” for their customers. It claims more than 100 business customers, including Wix, Bill.com, Honeybook, Relay, and Homebase, serving over 2 million end customers. Column is an American chartered bank that provides regulated financial infrastructure for companies innovating in financial services, serving clients include Carta, Brex and Ramp. It claims to power as much as 40% of all money moving across the Bay Area’s tech industry, doubling its revenue to US$200 million in 2025, with free cash flow of more than US$100 million, or about US$1 million per employee. Finally, Increase provides banking infrastructure that lets fintech startups and businesses move money, store deposits and access payment rails without building direct bank connections. It processes hundreds of billions in payments volume per year. Well-capitalized processors, like Fiserv and FIS, as well as banks such as JP Morgan and US Bank, are the most likely buyers in the BaaS platform consolidation. Regtech growth AI-native compliance and know-your-customer (KYC) solutions are another key theme in 2026 and 2027. As Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) requirements expand, regtech is entering a growth phase. Companies like Alloy, Sardine, and Resistant AI represent a new generation of compliance infrastructure, setting a new standard that incumbents must need to remain competitive. Alloy provides an identity and fraud prevention platform that enables global financial institutions and fintech startups to manage identity risk, serving more than 700 of the world’s largest financial institutions and fintech companies. It’s valued at US$1.55 billion, and is a natural target for well-capitalized processors like FIS or Fiserv to bundle advanced compliance capabilities with their core banking offerings. Sardine offers an agentic risk management platform, unifying data across risk teams to detect fraud in real-time and streamline compliance operations. It has protected over US$1 trillion in transaction volume for 503 million consumers and 2.6 million businesses to date, serving companies including FIS, GoDaddy, Deel, Checkout, and Brex. Finally, Resistant AI is a provider of native AI models for financial crime and fraud prevention. Resistant AI claims that companies using its services see a 3x increase in document fraud prevention, 5x faster review times, 90% automation rates, and a 5x increase in second-line analyst productivity. It serves customers including Dun & Bradstreet, Payoneer, Close Brothers, AXA, PennyMac, Bank of Valletta and Finom. Resistant AI raised US$25 million in a Series B in October 2025 after breaking even. Colos expects two or three significant acquisitions in this category in 2026 and 2027 at 6-10x annual recurring revenue (ARR) multiples. B2B payment infrastructure Another key fintech M&A theme in 2026 and 2027 is international payment infrastructure. With business-to-business (B2B) cross-border payments remaining expensive, slow and fragmented, acquirers with global ambitions will continue to buy payment rails and local infrastructure, especially those operating in high-growth markets, like Latin America (LatAm), Southeast Asia, and Africa. Most likely buyers include Mastercard, Visa, Block and Stripe, with probable targets that encompass Rapyd and Nuvei. Rapyd is a cross-border payment and embedded finance infrastructure serving 250,000 merchants. At its 2021 peak, Rapyd was valued at US$15 billion but has since seen its valuation shrink to US$4.5 billion, according to reports. Nuvei offers a modular, flexible and scalable technology that allows companies to accept next-generation payments, offer various payout options, and benefit from card issuing, banking, risk and fraud management services. Nuvei supports customers in more than 200 markets, with local acquiring in 50 markets, 150 currencies, and 680 alternative payment methods Nuvei was privatized in 2024, and is now owned by a private equity firm. The company could be re-sold or become a merger target. Colos also expects a number of B2B payment transactions focused on the US market. With the RTP and FedNow networks now operational, the plumbing for instant B2B payments is in place. This will likely prompt strategic buyers like Fiserv and FIS, as well as ERP providers like SAP and Oracle, to accelerate acquisitions of software layer above that infrastructure. Colos expects a particular focus to be placed on solutions that enable treasury management, payment orchestration, and accounts payable automation over real-time rails. Fintech M&A rebounds After stalling in 2022 and 2023, the fintech M&A market rebounded in 2025 as incumbents became strategically motivated to acquire distribution and technology. Targets are now those with proven revenue and clear integration rationale, rather than high-growth loss-makers. Valuation multiplies, while recovering from 2022-2023 lows, reflect a new equilibrium. Payment infrastructure are now trading at 3-7x revenue, neobanks at 2-4x, and data and compliance platforms at 5-8x. This marks a significant recalibration from 2021, when fintech companies traded at 20-40x revenue multiples, valuations that made most targets unacquirable. Fintech deal multiples in 2025-2026, Source: Luciano Colos, PitchGrade.com, Mar 2026 Globally, the fintech industry recorded 1,030 M&A transactions in 2025, reaching a four-year high and climbing 29% year-over-year (YoY) from 797 deals in 2024. The largest transactions last year included Dunamu, the company operating South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit valued at US$10.3 billion and acquired in November 2025 by Naver Financial; Melio, a US-Israeli payment firm valued at US$3.1 billion and acquired in July 2025 by New Zealand’s cloud accounting software giant Xero; and Deribit, a crypto options exchange valued at US$2.9 billion and acquired in August 2025 by US crypto firm Coinbase. Fintech exit trends, Source: State of Fintech 2025, CB Insights, Feb 2026   Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by funtap via Freepik The post BaaS, Regtech, Payment Infrastructure Take Center Stage in Fintech M&A Rebound appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News - FintechNewsCH.

Singapore-based fintech Aspire has entered a strategic collaboration with J.P. Morgan Payments to improve foreign exchange (FX) efficiency and wallet-based fund conversion for clients operating internationally. For businesses working across borders, inefficient currency conversion can lead to delayed payments, unpredictable costs, and missed opportunities. Under the collaboration, J.P. Morgan Payments will act as a primary FX provider to Aspire, enhancing pricing, corridor access, and infrastructure resilience across markets. The first phase focuses on FX-to-wallet conversion in multiple currencies, including SGD, USD, GBP, EUR, and HKD. Aspire customers can now convert and manage funds within their wallets with institutional-grade infrastructure supporting each transaction. Andrea Baronchelli “As Aspire scales, our focus remains clear: delivering powerful banking infrastructure and simplified finances for globally ambitious companies,” said Andrea Baronchelli, CEO and Co-Founder of Aspire. “This collaboration with J.P. Morgan Payments further strengthens our FX strategy, combining institutional scale with fintech flexibility to deliver the competitive pricing and resilient infrastructure our customers need as they grow.” Christine Tan “At J.P. Morgan Payments, we continue to focus on supporting innovative fintechs that are building for global commerce,” said Christine Tan, APAC Head of FIG Sales at J.P. Morgan Payments. “Collaborating with Aspire reflects a shared commitment to delivering reliable, secure and scalable financial infrastructure for businesses operating across borders.” J.P. Morgan Payments processes over US$10 trillion in payments daily, across more than 160 countries and 120 currencies. Aspire has also expanded its regulatory presence, securing eight licenses and registrations across Australia, Europe, and the US to support multicurrency accounts, payments, cards, and spend management. Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by mkmult via Freepik The post Aspire Partners with J.P. Morgan Payments to Expand Cross-Border FX and Wallets appeared first on Fintech Singapore.

OnePay is partnering with Workday Wellness to embed banking, investing, and credit tools directly into employer HR and benefits platforms. The integration shifts financial wellness from a passive benefit to an in-workflow experience, helping employers drive engagement and usage. The partnership will also bring Enhanced Direct Deposit Switching (EDDS) to simplify payroll routing while helping OnePay acquire new customers and capture more deposits. Walmart-owned digital banking platform OnePay is reaching more customers through its new partnership with Workday Wellness The New York-based company has become a Workday Wellness partner for financial benefits. Under the agreement, Workday Wellness will integrate OnePay services with Workday Wellness to allow employers to bring OnePay’s banking, investing, credit building and other financial tools into the Workday experience. Workday Wellness is owned by Workday, an enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and AI agents. The company’s tools are used by more than 11,500 organizations across the globe, including more than 65% of the Fortune 500. Workday Wellness offers employers a real-time view of which benefits their employees actually use and advises them on how to improve their offerings. Bringing OnePay’s financial tools into that experience will move financial wellness from a passive benefit to an embedded part of the employee experience, making it easier for workers to take action in real time and for employers to drive measurable engagement. “Financial stress doesn’t disappear at the office door. Employers today know that when their employees stress about their finances, it directly affects their business. We’re partnering with Workday to bring comprehensive money tools into the systems employees already use every day,” said OnePay Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Hoare. “These tools are designed for simple rollout by employers and ease of use by employees, with the goal of helping people reduce stress and make real progress.” For OnePay, embedding its financial tools within Workday Wellness will offer an advantage because it will meet end consumers where they already are within payroll, benefits, and HR. For employers, the integration helps close the gap between offering financial wellness benefits and actually driving usage by making financial wellness tools more visible, accessible, and actionable. The partnership will also bring Enhanced Direct Deposit Switching (EDDS), a tool that allows employees to instantly set up or change payroll deposits within their employer’s platform. EDDS eliminates the need to manually add routing account numbers, accelerates financial onboarding, improves security, and enables instant switching of paycheck destinations. On the surface, Workday Wellness and OnePay are offering EDDS to provide a smoother sign-up and paycheck allocation process. For OnePay, however, facilitating the process of direct deposit switching will help it onboard new customers and increase the amount of deposits of its existing clients. “Financial wellbeing has become a strategic priority for employers,” said Workday Global Vice President, Partner Strategy & Growth Saqib Sheikh. “Welcoming OnePay into Enhanced Direct Deposit and Workday Wellness helps our customers provide a more holistic financial journey for their employees. Our upcoming direct deposit tools cut through the red tape, aiming to make it easier for employees to send their paychecks where they need them to go to help build a more secure financial future.” The post OnePay Partners with Workday Wellness to Expand Distribution appeared first on Finovate.       

Regulated prediction market Kalshi has signed a multi-year partnership with Fox Corporation, integrating its real-time probability data across Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, and Fox's streaming platforms.Singapore Summit: Meet the largest APAC brokers you know (and those you still don't!The deal adds Fox to a list of major media integrations that now includes CNN, CNBC, and — on the Polymarket side — Dow Jones. Under the agreement, Kalshi's odds on political, economic, and cultural events will appear across Fox's linear and digital content through tickers, charts, and real-time visualizations. Terms were not disclosed.Fox News x KalshiThe largest news network in America integrates Kalshi.Prediction markets add accountability by rewarding accuracy.That’s why the three leading networks have chosen Kalshi.No spin. No partisan lens. Just incentives to be right. pic.twitter.com/bcNCQUnWRA— Kalshi (@Kalshi) April 7, 2026 Why Media Companies are Buying Prediction Market Data For broadcasters, the appeal is structural: probability data is forward-looking, updates continuously, and gives producers something to display during live coverage that changes faster than polling. For Kalshi, it opens a revenue line that doesn't depend on trading volume. Kalshi says roughly 70% of its platform visitors come to view forecasts rather than trade.Licensing that data to a network with nearly 200 million monthly viewers is a way to monetize the larger, non-trading majority of its audience. "More people are watching Kalshi's forecasts than trading them, which says a lot," said co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour. "As misinformation grows more common, Kalshi offers accurate, unbiased data to help people better understand what's going on in the world." "Prediction markets have quickly become an essential data point and a compelling new experience across our live content portfolio," said Paul Cheesbrough, CEO of Tubi Media Group, which oversees Fox's streaming platforms. The CFTC Angle Kalshi's status as a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market matters here. It lets media organizations present the data as output from a regulated financial market rather than from an offshore betting platform — a distinction that affects both editorial framing and advertiser comfort. That said, the integrations carry real editorial risk. Critics have flagged the potential for anchors to misread probability data on-air, and the line between a sponsored data integration and neutral editorial content may not be obvious to viewers without explicit labelling. How Fox handles that disclosure will be worth watching. This article was written by Tanya Chepkova at www.financemagnates.com.

That's the question investors have been asking since the relief rally on the final trading day of March.

New feature streamlines account setup via mobile app for users. Highlights: CommBank introduces password chip scanning in its mobile app. New feature accelerates account onboarding for customers. Technology aims to improve security and user experience. CommBank has launched a new feature in its mobile app that allows users to scan their password chip for faster account onboarding. This innovation aims to enhance user experience by significantly reducing the time it takes to set up new accounts. The password chip scanning technology not only streamlines the onboarding process but also increases security measures. This move is part of CommBank’s ongoing strategy to leverage technology in improving banking services.

An exposed Amazon-hosted server allowed anyone to access reams of customer data without needing a password.