Fintech infrastructure has been a core Molten thesis for more than a decade, spanning payment rails, embedded finance and regulated technology, with investments including Revolut, Thought Machine, Ledger and Form3. The shift towards an agentic economy is reinforcing the need for trusted infrastructure as payments become more deeply embedded in business workflows, with significant potential for new category leaders to emerge.
Against this backdrop, we see vertical B2B payments as one of the most compelling infrastructure opportunities: a large, workflow-embedded market characterised by operational complexity, strategic relevance and durable moats. We have followed Pliant’s journey as a portfolio company for several years, where they have emerged as a clear leader. We are excited to invest in its $80M Series C, led by Seaya and Speedinvest, with participation from Illuminate Financial and Motive Ventures.
Why Pliant
Pliant is built for the complexity that makes B2B payments difficult to execute and hard to replicate. The challenge is rarely the card itself, but connecting fragmented systems, underwriting credit, onboarding customers quickly, reconciling transactions and operating across borders and legal entities. Pliant addresses this through an API-first platform underpinned by proprietary technology, regulatory licences and in-house credit underwriting, enabling it to serve finance teams directly or power products offered by banks and software platforms. It has expanded from card issuance into a broader B2B payments platform spanning commercial cards, payment accounts, FX and spend management. As a principal member of Visa and Mastercard, Pliant issues cards in 13 currencies across 32 countries under its European e-money licence. The business has doubled in each of the past three years, surpassed $100M in ARR and grown to more than 300 employees.
The market is also moving in Pliant’s favour. Banks constrained by legacy core systems, alongside software platforms, increasingly want to offer modern commercial payment products without building the entire stack themselves. Pliant meets that need with modular infrastructure that can be embedded quickly and operated under the appropriate regulatory licences across Europe, the UK and the US.
AI adds a further dimension. As agents begin to initiate and manage business payments, the underlying infrastructure must provide permissions, controls and auditability by design. Through Model Context Protocol (MCP) connections, Pliant already enables AI agents to access regulated payment infrastructure within those guardrails.
Where we see opportunity next
Pliant is taking this infrastructure to where demand is heading: enabling more banks and platforms to embed payments, expanding its North American footprint and building a larger role in agentic payments. The new capital will support growth across the US and Canada, preparation for further international markets and deeper agentic-payment capabilities.
Malte Rau, CEO and co-founder of Pliant, sums up the ambition: "Whether an established business wants AI to automate its payment processes with the right guardrails, or an AI-native company needs a licensed partner that moves as fast as it does, Pliant is built for that.”
Phoebe Kitchen, Molten Principal says “I have known Malte and team for several years and have been consistently impressed by the breadth of their vision and ability to execute, while transforming the opportunity in vertical B2B payments. Pliant has turned the complexity of B2B payments into a competitive advantage, combining proprietary technology and regulatory capabilities into a platform that businesses, banks and software providers can build on. As payments become more embedded and increasingly initiated by AI agents, we believe this infrastructure will become even more valuable. We’re excited to deepen our relationship with Pliant as they enter the next phase of their growth journey”.