← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Astrada

“Can a direct-to-card-network data pipe replace open banking feeds as the substrate for AI-driven expense management and autonomous finance?”

Founded2024
HQSan Francisco, CA
FoundersSalman Syed
Total raised$3.8M
Latest roundSeed, 2026
IndustryInfrastructure / Payments

The story

Astrada operates as the corporate successor to Fidel API's card-linked data business (legal entity is Fidel Limited DBA Astrada). Founded in 2024 by Salman Syed (ex-Mastercard, Marqeta, Fidel API), it repositioned the card-linking primitive away from loyalty/rewards toward 'the data layer for autonomous finance' — selling real-time, structured card transaction data to spend management platforms, ERPs and AI-finance agents that previously depended on stale bank feeds.

Last 12 months

2026-05

Closed $3.8M seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures, QED Investors, and Nyca Partners with strategic investment from Mastercard; disclosed >$750M in card spend and 3M+ transactions processed, with Workday, Zoho, Payhawk, and Miter as customers.

Product timeline

2024

Astrada founded by Salman Syed (ex-Mastercard, Marqeta, Fidel API) to build real-time card transaction data infrastructure.· pivot

2024

Joined Mastercard StartPath accelerator and became Visa Ventures portfolio company.· banking

2024

Achieved PCI DSS v4 Level 1 service provider certification.· banking

2026

Closed $3.8M seed led by Bain Capital Ventures, QED, and Nyca, with strategic checks from Visa and Mastercard. Disclosed customers: Workday, Zoho, Payhawk, Miter.· banking

The stack

0 layers disclosed in Astrada’s embedded-finance stack

Accounting gap: none