According to Fortune, Mercury has hit $650 million in annualized revenue by the end of Q3 2025, up from $500 million at the end of 2024. The banking startup raised a $300 million Series C led by Sequoia in March at a $3.5 billion valuation and has been GAAP profitable on both net income and EBITDA for three consecutive years. CEO Immad Akhund says fintech has seen a “big resurgence” in 2025 after a difficult period in 2022-2023, pointing to successful IPOs from companies like Circle and Chime. Mercury calculates its annualized revenue by taking monthly revenue and multiplying by 12, rather than using traditional SaaS ARR metrics. The company has seen 40% customer growth through 2025 and serves startups including Supabase, ElevenLabs, Lovable, Linear, Phantom, and Tempo.
The profitability advantage
Here’s the thing about Mercury’s approach that stands out in today’s startup landscape: they’re actually making money. And not just barely scraping by—they’ve been profitable for three straight years. Akhund makes a compelling case that profitability isn’t just good business sense in fintech, it’s essential for building trust. When you’re handling millions of dollars for startups, burning through cash like there’s no tomorrow doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
Think about it—Mercury has companies with over $100 million on their platform. That’s serious money that founders have worked incredibly hard to raise. Would you trust that to a company bleeding cash? Probably not. This focus on sustainable growth rather than growth at all costs feels particularly relevant after the whole Synapse and Evolve mess that Mercury got tangled up in.
Growing up means getting serious about compliance
As Mercury scales, they’re putting real muscle into compliance—about 20% of their company now works on risk and compliance teams. That’s a significant investment, but it makes sense when you consider the regulatory scrutiny they’ve faced. They brought in Steve Pearlman as chief compliance officer, which signals they’re taking this seriously.
What’s interesting is how Akhund frames this evolution. When they launched, nine people working with an external consultant was sufficient because nobody was using the product yet. But at scale? You need dedicated, experienced professionals. It’s a reminder that what works for a tiny startup often doesn’t cut it when you’re serving 200,000+ customers.
Built by startups, for startups
Mercury’s story is fundamentally intertwined with the startup ecosystem they serve. Their customer list reads like a who’s who of rising tech companies—Supabase, ElevenLabs, Linear, Phantom. And Akhund himself has backed over 350 startups since 2016 through his own investing, including names like Rippling, Airtable, and Substack.
This dual perspective—building a fintech while investing in other startups—gives Akhund unique insight. He talks about how meeting early-stage entrepreneurs reminds him of the hunger and speed that can get diluted as companies grow. It’s easy to become bureaucratic at 1,000 people, but those three-person teams moving lightning fast? They keep you honest.
The fintech roller coaster rights itself
After what Akhund describes as fintech being “kind of dead” in 2022-2023, 2025 looks like a genuine comeback story. Successful IPOs from fintech companies have brought excitement back to the sector, and private markets are following suit. Mercury’s growth and recent funding round are evidence that investors are once again bullish on fintech.
But here’s the question: Is this sustainable, or are we just seeing another cycle? The difference this time might be that companies like Mercury have proven they can grow responsibly while actually making money. That’s a far cry from the “growth at all costs” mentality that characterized the 2021 peak. As industry observers have noted, the path forward for fintech requires balancing innovation with stability—something Mercury seems to understand better than most.
