Fintech startup Stoa raises £1.8m led by Bespokeist Partners and Ingenii Capital
This article covers Stoa, a UK fintech startup, which has raised £1.8m in a pre-seed funding round to scale a cash management platform that converts idle deposits into upfront perks for savers and business customers. The development aims to give banks and merchants a low‑friction way to attract and retain deposits while offering savers and SMEs immediate, FSCS‑protected benefits.
Stoa, a UK fintech startup, has raised £1.8m in a pre-seed funding round to scale a cash management platform that converts idle deposits into upfront perks for savers and business customers — a model that aims to give banks and merchants a new way to attract and retain deposits while keeping funds within regulated banking partners.
Why it matters
The deal highlights a wider problem in UK finance: hundreds of billions sit in low- or zero-interest accounts, offering little value to customers and limited stickiness for banks. Stoa’s approach reframes idle balances as an engagement channel rather than a passive liability, promising immediate consumer-facing benefits while maintaining FSCS protection through regulated partners. For banks and merchants squeezed by competition and card fees, the model could be a low-friction tool to boost deposits, reduce churn and create new behavioural incentives.
Inside the product
Stoa’s core product is the “Stoa Pot”, a fixed-term deposit that delivers perks from participating brands instead of—or alongside—conventional interest. Customers lock money into Pots and receive immediate offers or rewards from merchants that have partnered with Stoa. Funds are held with regulated banking partners and eligible balances carry FSCS protection.
The company combines elements of behavioural finance, embedded banking infrastructure and merchant distribution. Its modular, composable architecture can be integrated by banks or merchants directly or exposed via partners’ channels. When customers link accounts through open banking, algorithms assess spending and saving patterns to tailor offers, with the aim of improving personalisation and conversion.
Stoa says it has live UK deployments for both individuals and SMEs and is already in strategic conversations in the US as it plans transatlantic expansion. The team includes hires from Octopus Investments, Starling Bank, Vodafone, Oracle, Nationwide, Lloyds Banking Group and Three UK. Former Starling Bank CEO and co-founder John Mountain has joined as an advisor to guide product innovation and merchant distribution.
Who are the investors?
The round was co-led by Bespokeist Partners and Ingenii Capital, with participation from Force Over Mass Capital and Fuel Ventures. A syndicate of senior angels from the financial services sector also joined, including Suneel Hargunani, formerly of Citi, and Rachel Sestini, a partner at Shaw Gibbs group and co-founder of Canopy Capital, alongside other executives from major global institutions.
According to Stoa, the funding will be used to scale its cash management platform in the UK and support planned entry into the US market. Investors cited the potential to convert large pools of low-yield deposits into an engagement and distribution layer for banks and merchants as a key rationale, while inbound demand from banks and merchants was flagged as validation of the model.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Mike Saraswat, co-founder and CEO at Stoa, said:
The future of cash management is not just about interest rates.
People want choice, tangible value, and a clearer sense of how their money is working for them. Stoa is creating a new experience around idle cash, one that rewards customers upfront while keeping eligible deposits protected through regulated banking infrastructure. For financial institutions, Stoa helps attract larger deposits for longer. For merchants, it helps reduce churn, deepen customer loyalty, and lower reliance on card processing fees.
In the announcement, Sam Goodenough, co-founder and CTO at Stoa, said:
We’ve built a modular and composable architecture that banks and merchants can plug into directly or expose through their own channels. The result is that partners can offer Stoa Pots as a native part of their own product set, turning idle deposits into a genuine engagement and retention tool. And when customers securely link their bank account through open banking, smart algorithms read spending and saving patterns to shape even sharper, more personalised offers.
The bigger picture
Stoa cites more than £600bn held in low-yield or non-interest consumer accounts across the UK and a further £250bn-plus in SME reserves. It also points to roughly $1tn parked in low- or zero-interest SME accounts in the US, signalling the scale of the opportunity for products that make deposits more actionable.
The move comes as banks look for cheaper sources of funding and merchants seek alternatives to rising card processing costs. It also fits a pattern of fintechs building infrastructure that layers on top of existing banking rails to extract value from customer relationships. For regulators and incumbents, ensuring clear consumer protections and transparency around incentives will be important as such models proliferate.
This funding round underscores continuing investor appetite for fintech infrastructure that connects banks, merchants and customers. The outcome to watch is whether Stoa can convert interest from bank partners into durable deposit flows and merchant revenue while maintaining regulatory and consumer trust — a test that will shape how similar propositions fare across the UK and into Europe and the US.
They've invested in Stoa
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| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
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