Illuminate Financial launches Early Growth Fund backed by leading global institutions, announces first investments in Pliant and TransFICC

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, October 7, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Illuminate Financial, the specialist venture capital firm focused on technology for financial services, today announced the launch of its Early Growth Fund. Supported by strategic investments from global financial institutions including Jefferies, S&P Global, Deutsche Börse, HSBC, and TD Securities, the fund brings substantial resources for scaling financial technology businesses.

The Early Growth Fund targets high-potential companies at the Series B stage—businesses with validated product–market fit preparing to scale across regulated, complex markets. Illuminate’s approach bridges the gap between early innovation and institutional adoption, providing capital and deep strategic expertise.

First Investments Completed

Illuminate Financial has completed its first two investments in the new fund:
- Pliant: an innovative corporate card and spend management platform with scalable, API-first infrastructure that empowers enterprise finance teams with greater control, efficiency, and flexibility over their payment workflows.
- TransFICC: the specialist provider of low-latency connectivity and workflow services for Fixed Income and Derivatives markets.

These investments exemplify Illuminate’s thesis-driven approach to supporting foundational financial market infrastructure.

“With investments in Pliant and TransFICC, we’re already demonstrating our commitment to backing exceptional teams building infrastructure for the financial services ecosystem,” said Mark Beeston, Founder and Managing Partner of Illuminate Financial.

Founded by Mark Beeston in 2014 and operated alongside Partners Alexander Ross, Rezso Szabo, Rachel Townend and Luca Zorzino, the firm comprises over 20 team members across New York, London and Singapore.

“Illuminate feels more like a partner than an investor. They understand how Capital Markets work, the complexity of bank sales cycle and have a great industry network,” said Steve Toland, CEO & Founder of TransFICC.

“We are excited to have Illuminate join our cap table. From the very beginning of the investment process, they showed a strong alignment with our long-term vision and a thoughtful appreciation of the challenges and opportunities ahead. Beyond their investment, we value Illuminate’s ability to support us with strategic insights, market perspective, and a collaborative approach that will help us translate our ideas into tangible outcomes,” said Malte Rau, CEO & Founder of Pliant.

The participation of global financial institutions—including Jefferies, S&P Global, Deutsche Börse, HSBC, and TD Securities—not only strengthens the capital base of the Early Growth Fund but also significantly enhances its strategic value proposition. Collectively, these institutions spend tens of billions of dollars on technology, have decades of operational leadership and regulatory intelligence.

Moran Levinovitz, Head of HSBC Ventures at HSBC, said:

“We’re seeing digital transformation accelerate at pace as embedded finance and real-time payments converge with the growing application of AI and Digital Assets. Illuminate’s track record across enterprise fintech and capital markets infrastructure bridges insight and technology, making them a great partner as we invest in the next generation of financial technology.”

This perspective is echoed by fellow strategic partners, who view Illuminate as a critical link between early innovation and large-scale financial infrastructure.

Sally Moore, Chief Client Officer at S&P Global, said:

“We’re pleased to collaborate with Illuminate Financial and invest in its Early Growth Fund. The financial services industry is evolving at a rapid clip amidst the shifting regulatory environment, structural reforms, and transformational technologies. These factors are driving and unlocking opportunities across capital markets. Illuminate has been anticipating these pivotal shifts early on, and through their funds have supported innovative companies building the data, risk, and compliance infrastructures needed to address these new challenges and opportunities. We value Illuminate’s foresight in identifying emerging technologies that further enhance transparency, resiliency, operational readiness, and integrity across the global financial system.”

Dan Bosman, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at TD Securities, added:

“We are very pleased to support Illuminate Financial’s Early Growth Fund and to see its first investments come to life with Pliant and TransFICC. This fund represents an important bridge between innovative fintech companies and the global financial institutions that can help them scale. We look forward to working alongside Illuminate and its portfolio companies as they deliver the next generation of financial market infrastructure.”

Markus Hablizel, Head of DB1 Ventures at Deutsche Börse, said:

“Deutsche Börse Group has been an investor in Illuminate's funds right from their inception. We are impressed with what the team has built over the last few years, and appreciate the positive performance so far. DB1 Ventures looks forward to continuing working together on investment opportunities in financial infrastructure space.”



About Illuminate Financial

Illuminate Financial is a thesis-driven venture capital firm focused on B2B fintech and enterprise companies defining the future of financial services with offices in London, New York, and Singapore. The firm has backing and strategic support from leading global financial institutions including Jefferies, S&P Global, Deutsche Börse, HSBC, and TD Securities. Illuminate uses its deep network to provide real insight into what the industry needs and helps their portfolio companies achieve their full potential. Illuminate’s venture capital strategy has delivered 10 successful exits to date, and its 2015 vintage is consistently ranked as the top performing European venture fund for distributions.

Daria Dmytrenko
Illuminate Financial
ddmytrenko@illuminatefinancial.com
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