Growth Lead - Institutional Markets

OpenFX launches venture arm; has invested in Miami's Jeeves and Cyclops. OpenFX, the financial infrastructure company with a fast-growing Miami hub, is launching an investment arm, seeking to partner with early-stage founders to help modernize the movement of money across international borders using stablecoins. OpenFX Ventures plans to invest from $20,000 to $100,000 in partner companies, but "will go with whatever the founders accommodate us in for. The relationship is more critical than the figure," said Karan Shah, the OpenFX chief of staff who leads the new ventures unit. "Portfolio companies will receive capital, connectivity to OpenFX's markets, and early access to upcoming products and capabilities," OpenFX said in a news release from London. Shah said OpenFX investments began informally "about a year ago" as small checks to help friends, customers and vendors. At least two Miami fintechs have disclosed OpenFX as an investor in recent funding rounds: financial operating system Jeeves, which raised $110 million in September, and Cyclops, which raised $20 million in July to expand its platform for payments companies. Both use stablecoins in their growing international businesses. OpenFX Ventures is targeting innovators building solutions in four main areas: next-generation applications; routing and clearing infrastructure; credit on the blockchain; and AI-native payment operations, Shah said. Stay ahead of Miami tech. Join 16,000+ founders, investors, and tech professionals. "Our belief is access/capital is concentrated; however, the best founders are distributed," Shah wrote Refresh Miami by email from London. "We're working with teams outside of typical hubs of San Francisco and New York City, ranging from Miami to Mexico City to Montevideo, Sao Paulo, London, Barcelona, Bangalore, Bangkok," among others. OpenFX has been making headlines this year amid rapid growth, partly through acquisitions. This summer, it acquired Miami-based startup Global Ledger to expand from cross-border payments into business banking accounts. As part of the deal, Global Ledger founder Tyler McIntyre joined OpenFX to head up its new multi-currency accounts. In March, OpenFX raised a $94 million Series A round backed by Accel, Atomico, Lightspeed Faction and other investors. The fintech venture launched in 2024, aiming to modernize foreign-exchange moves across borders with near-instant transfers powered by stablecoins. It has hubs in varied world regions, serving customers who move money internationally around the clock. OpenFX recently set up a 3,500-square-foot office at Brickell City Tower in downtown Miami, which serves as its U.S. headquarters. The company employs more than 15 people in South Florida and plans to add staff in the area as it expands, according to Harrison Mann, who leads the company's go-to-market efforts from Miami. READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:

Latitude raises $35M Series A for stablecoin payments. Key Points * Latitude raised $35 million in Series A funding to expand its stablecoin payment infrastructure and international licensing efforts. * Oak HC/FT led the round, with NEA, Coinbase, Lightspeed Faction and OpenFX also participating as investors. * Latitude connects stablecoins with local payment systems so businesses can send money while recipients receive local currency. September 10, 2026 Credits: TechNews180 Latitude, a global payments infrastructure startup, is developing technology that connects stablecoins with the local payment systems people already use. Founded by Cyril Mathew, Brian Wrightson and Vivek Morzaria, the company helps businesses move money across borders without requiring recipients to understand or hold cryptocurrency. The focus is on making the transfer process simpler. Stablecoins are becoming more closely connected with mainstream payments. Visa said in a 2026 analysis that stablecoins have increasingly become a normalized part of money movement, with cross border transfers emerging as one of their main commercial uses. The company also described 2026 as a pivotal year for financial institutions developing stablecoin strategies as market infrastructure and regulatory frameworks mature. That puts payment infrastructure under closer attention. Latitude has raised $35 million in a Series A led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from NEA, Coinbase, Lightspeed Faction and OpenFX. The financing follows an $8 million seed round announced earlier in 2026 and brings the company's total funding to $43 million. "Moving money should be as simple as sending a message," said Cyril Mathew, co-founder and CEO of Latitude. "You shouldn't need to understand stablecoins to use them. We built Latitude so a business can move money in and out of any market and have it just work. The hard part should be your product, not the plumbing underneath it." How Latitude Connects Stablecoins With Local Payments Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to keep a relatively stable value, usually by being tied to an asset such as the US dollar. They can move quickly between digital networks, but businesses still need a way to convert those funds into currencies and payment methods that people can actually use. That conversion remains a practical requirement. This process relies on what the industry calls on ramps and off ramps. An on ramp converts traditional money into stablecoins, while an off ramp changes stablecoins back into local currency. Latitude says its infrastructure connects stablecoins with local payment rails, meaning the systems used to send and receive money within individual markets. The goal is straightforward local access. The company cites Pix in Brazil, UPI in India and mobile money in Kenya as examples of payment methods people use in different countries. According to Latitude, recipients such as contractors, sellers and employees can receive local currency without needing a crypto wallet. They receive money through familiar systems. Other payment companies are expanding similar infrastructure. Stripe said at its 2026 Sessions conference that it planned to extend stablecoin payment acceptance to customers in 33 additional countries and introduce stablecoin backed card issuance in 60 countries. The plans show how payment providers are connecting blockchain based settlement with products people already know how to use. Stablecoins are moving closer to everyday payments. "The real challenge is building the infrastructure for stablecoins that connects a global technology to the financial systems people and businesses rely on every day," said Oivind Lorentzen, Partner at Oak HC/FT. "Latitude has taken on that hard work from the beginning, building the regulatory foundation and local connectivity required to operate at scale. We believe they have the potential to become a foundational part of how money moves around the world." How Latitude Plans to Expand Its Payment Network Latitude has not provided a detailed breakdown of how the new $35 million will be spent. Its stated priorities include expanding international licensing, adding more local currency connections and continuing to broaden the network available through its API. The company is pursuing wider geographic coverage. Latitude is currently licensed or approved to operate in 45 US markets and says it is seeking additional licenses internationally. It also works with liquidity partners and venues in individual markets to route transfers and convert between stablecoins and local currencies. Those connections sit behind each payment. The company wants to make these local payment connections available through a single integration rather than requiring businesses to build separate infrastructure for every country. This approach is partly aimed at fintech companies expanding internationally. A neobank entering a new market, for example, could connect to Latitude instead of establishing its own stablecoin conversion, liquidity and compliance systems there. That reduces the systems it must build. How Latitude Handles Cross Border Payments Latitude was founded in 2025 by Mathew, Wrightson and Morzaria and emerged publicly in 2026 after operating in stealth. Its founders previously worked in payments and financial infrastructure at companies including Stripe, Coinbase, Meta, Uber and Zero Hash. Their backgrounds are concentrated in financial technology. The company's infrastructure combines stablecoin settlement with local banking and payment rails. In simple terms, a business can send money through Latitude while the recipient receives it through a familiar local method and in the currency they normally use. Latitude manages the stablecoin conversion and the underlying infrastructure, so the recipient does not need to manage digital assets directly. The crypto component stays in the background. Latitude offers global fiat payouts as well as international stablecoin on ramps and off ramps for fintech companies, exchanges and neobanks. Its website lists payment coverage across markets in Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. The company also says its customers include payroll platforms, marketplaces, fintechs and wallets operating across more than 50 countries. Its service is already used internationally. The Investors Behind Latitude's $35M Series A The Series A brings Latitude's reported funding to $43 million. Its earlier $8 million seed round was led by NEA and included investors such as Lightspeed Faction, Coinbase Ventures, Paxos and Solana Foundation. That financing was disclosed when Latitude emerged from stealth earlier in 2026. The company has now raised twice this year. Oak HC/FT led the new $35 million round, while NEA, Coinbase, Lightspeed Faction and OpenFX participated. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati served as legal adviser to Latitude on the transaction. Several existing investors returned for the Series A. Funding details. * Company name: Latitude * Funding round: Series A * Date: September 2026 * Funding amount: $35 million * Lead investors: Oak HC/FT