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§ Private Profile · San Francisco, CA, USA
BaaS platform providing banking infrastructure for fintechs and institutions, focused on secure money movement with U.S. Treasury bills.
Jiko has raised $124.7M across 5 funding rounds.
Jiko has raised $124.7M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Jiko, based in Wadena, Minnesota, provides resilient banking infrastructure that securely stores and moves money by replacing traditional deposits with U.S. Treasury bills for enhanced safety and real-time liquidity. The platform offers direct access to T-bills, enables instant transfers, and supports real-time settlement primarily for institutional clients and fintechs, powering banking-as-a-service (BaaS) without intermediaries. Jiko became the first fintech to acquire a national bank charter by purchasing Mid-Central Federal Savings Bank in 2020, subsequently pivoting to accelerate its B2B BaaS strategy. The organization reported 23 employees at the time of the bank acquisition. Co-founder and CEO Stephane Lintner, an ex-Goldman Sachs trader, leads the company. Jiko was founded in 2016 by Stephane Lintner and his team. Its business model centers on banking-as-a-service platform providing infrastructure to fintechs and institutions, generates revenue through interchange fees passed as cash-back rewards and services for corporate cash management.
Jiko is a San Francisco-based financial technology company that operates a national bank, broker-dealer, and digital platform, enabling direct investment in U.S. Treasury bills (T-bills) with bank-like liquidity and safety. It serves institutional clients like crypto exchanges (e.g., Coinbase, Bitso, Crypto.com), handling corporate cash management, real-time settlements, and payments across sectors such as digital assets, M&A, real estate, aviation, shipping, and energy. Jiko solves liquidity and counterparty risks in traditional banking by eliminating intermediaries, investing 100% of balances in T-bills for yield, security, and 24/7 instant transfers via its JikoNet platform—managing over $10 billion in T-bills traded, 130k+ accounts, and sub-second Visa card spends.[1][2][3][4]
Growth momentum includes $69M in total funding, with a $40M Series B in 2023 led by Red River West, plus partnerships with majors like BNY Mellon for custody and rapid onboarding (11 days from sandbox to production).[2][5][6]
Jiko's founding team, comprising ex-bankers, engineers, and Goldman Sachs veterans, coalesced in 2016 after experiencing the 2008 financial crisis's liquidity failures—Wall Street's issues in the U.S. and Iceland's bank collapses firsthand.[1][3][6] CEO Stephane Lintner, a former Goldman Sachs trader, envisioned a resilient infrastructure free from traditional banking risks, allowing cash to be held directly in T-bills with checking-account usability.[5][6]
Pivotal moments included acquiring an OCC-chartered national bank, registering as a FINRA broker-dealer, and building a proprietary platform over years. Early traction came from institutional trust, evolving into a mission for scalable cash safeguarding amid crises like 2023 banking turmoil.[1][4]
Jiko rides the trend toward tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and stablecoin infrastructure, where T-bills underpin USD liquidity for crypto, DeFi, and beyond amid rising demand for yield-bearing, risk-free rails post-2023 bank failures.[1][2] Timing aligns with regulatory clarity on digital assets and Basel III's liquidity emphasis, favoring direct Treasury exposure over deposits vulnerable to runs.[1][4]
Market forces like high interest rates boost T-bill yields (making them attractive vs. 0% bank cash), while 24/7 global trade demands non-stop settlement—Jiko influences fintech by enabling crypto firms' U.S. compliance and real-time M&A/energy payments, reducing systemic risks and inspiring "T-bill native" banking.[2][5] It humanizes finance by democratizing access to "source of money" for institutions, countering legacy banks' opacity.[1][6]
Jiko is positioned to dominate institutional T-bill liquidity as RWAs and on-chain finance explode, potentially expanding to retail via partners like Public and national loans.[2][4][6] Trends like Fed rate normalization, tokenized Treasuries (e.g., BlackRock's BUIDL), and 24/7 CBDC pilots will amplify demand; Jiko's bank-fintech hybrid could capture share from SVB-like failures.
Influence may evolve into a "stable network" backbone for global USD rails, with growth via acquisitions or crypto treasury tools—watch for $100B+ AUM as safety-first innovation redefines cash in volatile markets, fulfilling its crisis-born mission to safeguard futures at scale.[1][2]
Jiko has raised $124.7M across 5 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $29.0M Series C in December 2024.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2024 | $29M Series C | — | Prefix Capital, Upfront Ventures | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2022 | $40M Series B | RED River West | Prefix Capital, Slow Ventures, Upfront Ventures | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2020 | $40M Series A | — | Prefix Capital, Upfront Ventures | Announced |
| Oct 24, 2017 | $7.7M Series A | — | — | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2017 | $8M Seed | — | Prefix Capital, Upfront Ventures | Announced |
Jiko has raised $124.7M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Jiko's investors include Prefix Capital, Upfront Ventures, Red River West, Slow Ventures.