Akhund: Dedicated fintech funds refused to invest in Mercury's seed round
Immad Akhund · 20VC Exclusive: Mercury Founder Launches First $26M Fund with Immad Akhund · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · May 12, 2025 · at 16:51
Immad Akhund, CEO and founder of Mercury, recounts the difficulty of raising Mercury's seed round from specialized fintech venture funds despite having Andreessen Horowitz as lead investor.
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“Even after Andreessen had come in with a lead check, it was so hard to get any fintech fund to invest alongside them because all fintech funds saw was like all the problems. They were like, this doesn't work for this reason and that reason. And I was like, I really wanted them as well because I was like, oh yeah, they're going to have like this deep fintech expertise that I really am lacking, but super hard to get them on board. I mean, I did get a bunch of fintech entrepreneurs on board, but could not get a fintech and a dedicated seed fund on board, which like in hindsight is ironic.”
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