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Sardine

Also a provider — view Sardine’s profile →

“Can one agentic risk platform replace the dozens of point-solution fraud, KYC, and AML tools that banks and fintechs currently stitch together?”

Founded2020
HQSan Francisco, California
FoundersSoups Ranjan
Total raised$170M
Latest roundSeries C, 2025
IndustryInfrastructure / KYC
The story

Founded in 2020 by former Coinbase, Revolut, Uber and PayPal risk leaders to consolidate fragmented fraud/KYC/AML tooling into one platform. Initially focused on crypto on-ramp fraud, Sardine expanded into a full agentic risk platform spanning fraud prevention, AML compliance and card issuing risk. In 2023 it launched Sponsor Banking to serve BaaS sponsor banks — a direct response to the OCC/FDIC enforcement wave. By 2026 it has added an Agentic Fraud/AML Ops layer and a Merchant of Record payments product (Sardine Payments) via subsidiary SardineAI Payments, Inc., positioning as risk-native embedded payments infrastructure.

Last 12 months
2025-02
2026-Q3
Product timeline
2020
Sardine founded by former risk/compliance leaders from Coinbase, Revolut, Uber, and PayPal· launch
2023
Launched Sponsor Banking compliance operating system for BaaS sponsor banks· banking
2025
Raised $70M Series C led by Activant Capital, total funding $145M+· funding
2026
Named a Leader in The Forrester Wave: Financial Crime Management Solutions Q3 2026· recognition
2026
Sardine Payments launched — Merchant of Record solution for crypto/fiat on/off-ramps· payments
Same company
Sardine was analysed under more than one name on the same domain, so its stack is split across these dossiers. Each was analysed independently and may name providers the others do not.
Sardinex1 layer →
The stack
4 layers disclosed in Sardine’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Sardine Payments (self-operated)
Open banking
in the full report
Crypto
in the full report
Fraud
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
3 more providers across 3 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.

Sardine — frequently asked

Who is Sardine's payment processor?

Sardine processes payments through Sardine Payments (self-operated).

Which open banking provider does Sardine use?

Sardine connects to bank accounts through Plaid.

Which crypto provider does Sardine use?

Sardine's crypto products run on Sardine Payments (self-operated).

What fraud prevention does Sardine use?

Sardine uses Sardine for fraud prevention.

What is Sardine's embedded finance stack?

The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Sardine's stack: Payments / PSP (Sardine Payments (self-operated)); Open banking (Plaid); Crypto (Sardine Payments (self-operated)); Fraud (Sardine).

Who founded Sardine?

Sardine was founded by Soups Ranjan and is founded in 2020, headquartered in San Francisco, California.

How much funding has Sardine raised?

Sardine has raised $170M in total (latest round: Series C, 2025).

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