UK FinTech startup Stoa has raised €2.1 million ($2.4 million) in pre-Seed funding to accelerate the growth of its cash management platform, which enables consumers and businesses to unlock upfront lifestyle and business value from idle cash deposits.
The round was co-led by Bespokeist Partners and Ingenii Capital, with participation from Force Over Mass Capital and Fuel Ventures, alongside senior financial services angels including Suneel Hargunani, formerly of Citi, and Rachel Sestini, partner at Shaw Gibbs group and co-founder of Canopy Capital.
“The future of cash management is not just about interest rates,” says Mike Saraswat, co-founder and CEO of Stoa.
“People want choice, tangible value, and a clearer sense of how their money is working for them. Stoa is creating a new experience around idle cash, one that rewards customers upfront while keeping eligible deposits protected through regulated banking infrastructure. For financial institutions, Stoa helps attract larger deposits for longer. For merchants, it helps reduce churn, deepen customer loyalty, and lower reliance on card processing fees.”
Stoa’s pre-Seed round comes amid continued 2026 funding activity in European FinTech infrastructure, particularly across payments, treasury, SME banking and finance automation.
EU-Startups has reported at least €380 million across relevant comparable rounds this year, including UK-based raises from Round Treasury, MillTech, Allica Bank, wamo, Primer, Bound and Firenze, alongside continental European activity from Silverflow, paymove, finperks, Smartwage and Festina Finance.
Several of the closest comparables are also UK-based, indicating domestic investor activity around business banking, cash and treasury workflows, payment rails and financial operating systems.
Including Stoa’s round, the selected funding total reaches approximately €382.4 million, with capital moving towards platforms that help consumers, SMEs and financial institutions manage money, payments, deposits, risk and financial operations more efficiently.
Co-founder and CTO, Sam Goodenough adds: “We’ve built a modular and composable architecture that banks and merchants can plug into directly or expose through their own channels. The result is that partners can offer Stoa Pots as a native part of their own product set, turning idle deposits into a genuine engagement and retention tool.
“And when customers securely link their bank account through open banking, smart algorithms read spending and saving patterns to shape even sharper, more personalised offers.”
Founded in 2022, Stoa is a FinTech platform reimagining cash management by turning idle consumer and business deposits into upfront perks with everyday value. Its behaviour-led products aim to help customers energise money sitting in low or zero-interest accounts, while helping financial institutions grow deposits and merchants build deeper customer relationships.
Stoa’s platform is now live in the UK for both consumers and businesses. Customers can place deposits into fixed-term “Stoa Pots” and receive upfront perks and benefits from partner brands, rather than relying solely on traditional interest models.
Deposits are held with regulated banking partners and eligible funds are protected under the FSCS protection scheme.
Memet Yazici, co-founder and Managing Partner at Bespokeist Partners says: “We are delighted to back a FinTech that encourages, measures and elevates SAVING rather than SPENDING. This is a team with 50+ years experience in banking and FinTech focusing on delivering more than just Annual Percentage Yield to savers in the UK and the US. Stoa is here to create more value for savers, banks and merchants from idle cash.”
According to data provided by Stoa, more than €701 billion (£600 billion) is currently held in low-yield or non-interest-bearing consumer accounts in the UK, alongside more than €292 billion (£250 billion) in SME cash reserves.
In the US, Stoa estimates that more than €875 billion ($1 trillion) sits in low or zero-interest SME accounts alone, with substantially larger amounts held across consumer current and checking accounts.
The company says it is already seeing strong inbound interest from banking partners and merchants exploring how its model can help drive stronger customer engagement, increase deposits, improve retention, and unlock new forms of value creation for their customer bases.
Stoa is also in early partnership discussions in the US as it prepares for planned expansion into the market.
Michael Boocher, Founder and Managing Director at Ingenii Capital says: “I love how the Stoa Pots work like a new payment rail powered by your savings. You use your money to get the things you need without spending any of it. It’s a gateway to Universal Basic Income, your savings stay fully intact while they cover your subscriptions and everyday essentials.“
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/07/360944/
