About Mercury
Mercury was founded in 2017 by Immad Akhund, Max Tagher, and Jason Zhang, launching publicly in 2019 with a business banking product built specifically around the needs and expectations of startup founders, who the founders argued had been poorly served by traditional banks offering clunky, dated digital experiences, slow account opening processes, and limited integration with the modern software tools startups typically rely on for accounting, payments, and other financial operations. Mercury is a financial technology company rather than a chartered bank itself, partnering with FDIC-insured banks including Choice Financial Group, Column, and Evolve Bank & Trust to actually hold customer deposits and provide the underlying banking infrastructure, a common structural arrangement among fintech companies offering banking-like products.
Mercury's core banking product emphasizes a fast, largely self-service account opening process, a modern web and mobile app interface, and integrations with popular startup software tools for accounting, payments, and fundraising operations, features designed to appeal specifically to technology-forward startup founders who value efficiency and modern software design in their banking relationship, in contrast to more traditional business banking products built with less consideration for startup-specific workflows and expectations. The company has expanded significantly beyond its original checking account product into a broader suite of financial services, including corporate credit cards, treasury management and yield-generating account options for startups holding significant venture funding as cash reserves, and, in 2024, an expansion into consumer personal banking aimed at founders and investors who wanted to bank with Mercury personally in addition to through their companies. Mercury has grown to serve more than 200,000 businesses, predominantly startups, and pursued an application for its own national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which would reduce its dependency on third-party partner banks. The company has raised substantial venture funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and CRV, reaching a valuation of $5.2 billion following a $200 million Series D in May 2026, competing with Brex and traditional banks' startup banking divisions.
