Top 10 US FinTech Unicorns 2026

Klarna completed a highly anticipated IPO in 2025 at a $45 billion valuation, having recovered from a devastating 85% valuation cut in its 2022 down-round. The Swedish buy-now-pay-later leader has over 85 million active consumers in the US and 150 million globally, partnering with 500,000+ merchants including H&M, Sephora, and Airbnb. Klarna's pivot to AI-powered customer service in 2024, replacing 700 Salesforce seats and cutting CS costs 25%, became a widely cited case study in enterprise AI adoption.

Chime is valued at approximately $25 billion, serving over 22 million customers as the largest US neobank. Founded in 2012, Chime charges no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, and no minimum balance requirements, targeting the 60+ million Americans underserved by traditional banks. Its "SpotMe" overdraft protection -- which covers up to $200 without fees -- has driven extraordinary loyalty metrics, with Chime customers using their accounts as their primary banking relationship at 3x the rate of traditional bank customers.

Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) has a market cap of approximately $20 billion and 23 million funded accounts, having democratized stock and crypto trading with its commission-free model that forced every major US broker to eliminate trading fees. Founded in 2013 by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood generated $1.8 billion in revenue in 2025 and turned consistently profitable. Its GameStop trading restrictions in January 2021 sparked Congressional hearings and a documentary, becoming the defining controversy in retail trading history.

Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) carries a market cap of approximately $15 billion with over 18 million active consumers using its buy-now-pay-later platform. Founded in 2012 by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, Affirm distinguishes itself from competitors with transparent, no-hidden-fee loans and no late fees, processing $25 billion in gross merchandise volume annually. Its 2023 partnership with Apple Pay to offer BNPL on Apple devices gave it access to 500 million iPhone users and validated the mainstream arrival of installment payments.

Plaid is valued at approximately $13 billion, operating the financial data infrastructure that powers 8,000+ fintech applications including Venmo, Coinbase, Betterment, and Robinhood. Founded in 2013 by Zach Perret and William Hockey, Plaid connects to 12,000+ financial institutions, enabling users to link bank accounts to apps instantly. Visa attempted to acquire Plaid for $5.3 billion in 2021 before the DOJ blocked the deal, arguing it would have given Visa monopoly control over the fintech data infrastructure market.

Brex is valued at approximately $12 billion, offering corporate cards, expense management, and business banking products designed specifically for startups and enterprise companies. Founded in 2017 by Stanford dropouts Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, Brex reached $1 billion in annual revenue faster than any other B2B fintech in history. Its 2022 decision to exit SMB customers and focus exclusively on tech startups and enterprises was controversial but proved prescient as the 2022 correction wiped out many SMB-focused competitors.

Toast (NYSE: TOST) has a market cap of approximately $12 billion, serving as the dominant point-of-sale and restaurant management platform for over 120,000 restaurant locations across the US. Founded in 2011 in Boston, Toast processes $120 billion in annualized gross payment volume and offers everything from ordering and payments to payroll and scheduling. Its 2021 IPO at a $20 billion valuation validated the thesis that vertical software-plus-payments companies in the restaurant industry could command premium multiples.

Ripple is valued at approximately $11 billion, operating the RippleNet payment network and XRP Ledger used by 300+ financial institutions for cross-border payments in 55+ countries. Founded in 2012 by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb, Ripple spent 4 years in an existential SEC lawsuit before winning a landmark partial ruling in 2023 establishing that XRP token sales on exchanges did not constitute unregistered securities offerings. Its On-Demand Liquidity product reduces the need for pre-funded nostro accounts, saving banks up to 60% on international transfer costs.

Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) carries a market cap of approximately $4 billion, operating the modern card issuing platform powering payment cards for Square, DoorDash, Instacart, and Uber. Founded in 2010 by Jason Gardner, Marqeta enables companies to issue and process physical and virtual cards with real-time transaction controls -- letting DoorDash, for example, unlock a delivery driver's card only at the specific restaurant for the exact order amount. It processes $230 billion in annualized total payment volume across 40+ countries.

Klarna completed a highly anticipated IPO in 2025 at a $45 billion valuation, having recovered from a devastating 85% valuation cut in its 2022 down-round. The Swedish buy-now-pay-later leader has over 85 million active consumers in the US and 150 million globally, partnering with 500,000+ merchants including H&M, Sephora, and Airbnb. Klarna's pivot to AI-powered customer service in 2024, replacing 700 Salesforce seats and cutting CS costs 25%, became a widely cited case study in enterprise AI adoption.

Chime is valued at approximately $25 billion, serving over 22 million customers as the largest US neobank. Founded in 2012, Chime charges no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, and no minimum balance requirements, targeting the 60+ million Americans underserved by traditional banks. Its "SpotMe" overdraft protection -- which covers up to $200 without fees -- has driven extraordinary loyalty metrics, with Chime customers using their accounts as their primary banking relationship at 3x the rate of traditional bank customers.

Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) has a market cap of approximately $20 billion and 23 million funded accounts, having democratized stock and crypto trading with its commission-free model that forced every major US broker to eliminate trading fees. Founded in 2013 by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood generated $1.8 billion in revenue in 2025 and turned consistently profitable. Its GameStop trading restrictions in January 2021 sparked Congressional hearings and a documentary, becoming the defining controversy in retail trading history.

Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) carries a market cap of approximately $15 billion with over 18 million active consumers using its buy-now-pay-later platform. Founded in 2012 by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, Affirm distinguishes itself from competitors with transparent, no-hidden-fee loans and no late fees, processing $25 billion in gross merchandise volume annually. Its 2023 partnership with Apple Pay to offer BNPL on Apple devices gave it access to 500 million iPhone users and validated the mainstream arrival of installment payments.

Plaid is valued at approximately $13 billion, operating the financial data infrastructure that powers 8,000+ fintech applications including Venmo, Coinbase, Betterment, and Robinhood. Founded in 2013 by Zach Perret and William Hockey, Plaid connects to 12,000+ financial institutions, enabling users to link bank accounts to apps instantly. Visa attempted to acquire Plaid for $5.3 billion in 2021 before the DOJ blocked the deal, arguing it would have given Visa monopoly control over the fintech data infrastructure market.

Brex is valued at approximately $12 billion, offering corporate cards, expense management, and business banking products designed specifically for startups and enterprise companies. Founded in 2017 by Stanford dropouts Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, Brex reached $1 billion in annual revenue faster than any other B2B fintech in history. Its 2022 decision to exit SMB customers and focus exclusively on tech startups and enterprises was controversial but proved prescient as the 2022 correction wiped out many SMB-focused competitors.

Toast (NYSE: TOST) has a market cap of approximately $12 billion, serving as the dominant point-of-sale and restaurant management platform for over 120,000 restaurant locations across the US. Founded in 2011 in Boston, Toast processes $120 billion in annualized gross payment volume and offers everything from ordering and payments to payroll and scheduling. Its 2021 IPO at a $20 billion valuation validated the thesis that vertical software-plus-payments companies in the restaurant industry could command premium multiples.

Ripple is valued at approximately $11 billion, operating the RippleNet payment network and XRP Ledger used by 300+ financial institutions for cross-border payments in 55+ countries. Founded in 2012 by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb, Ripple spent 4 years in an existential SEC lawsuit before winning a landmark partial ruling in 2023 establishing that XRP token sales on exchanges did not constitute unregistered securities offerings. Its On-Demand Liquidity product reduces the need for pre-funded nostro accounts, saving banks up to 60% on international transfer costs.

Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) carries a market cap of approximately $4 billion, operating the modern card issuing platform powering payment cards for Square, DoorDash, Instacart, and Uber. Founded in 2010 by Jason Gardner, Marqeta enables companies to issue and process physical and virtual cards with real-time transaction controls -- letting DoorDash, for example, unlock a delivery driver's card only at the specific restaurant for the exact order amount. It processes $230 billion in annualized total payment volume across 40+ countries.