Upward Announces Seed+ Investment Round to Redefine Fintech Infrastructure; Announces Strategic Partnership with Mastercard

The investment will fuel Upward's mission to make it radically faster and easier for businesses to launch and operate financial products — reducing the cost and complexity that have slowed innovation in financial services.

At the same time, Upward announced a strategic partnership with Mastercard to provide its embedded financial technology solutions to Upward's customers, enabling them to launch a Mastercard-branded card program in just weeks.

"At Upward, we're transforming the way financial products are built," said Aaron Gregory, Co-founder & CEO of Upward. "For too long, businesses that wanted to offer a financial product have had to choose between innovation, flexibility, and speed. This investment and our Mastercard partnership will help to tear down those barriers — empowering our customers to launch and operate smarter, customer-centric financial products faster than ever."

Building the Future of Financial Infrastructure

Upward's platform provides turnkey embedded fintech infrastructure designed to allow companies to easily launch branded credit card, payment, and banking products without the need to navigate complex regulatory and technical integrations with multiple vendors.

By combining banking, payments, cards, and compliance capabilities in a single, developer-friendly platform, Upward aims to empower its customers — from gig economy and creator platforms — to offer financial products built for the unique needs of their end users.

"Speed and compliance don't have to be at odds," said Danielle Hill, Co-Founder & COO of Upward. "We've built the infrastructure to make financial innovation not only faster but also more flexible for our customers. This next phase is about execution - helping customers transform their innovative visions into revenue-generating products in record time."

The $8 million round, including new capital and conversion of convertible equity, will be used to expand Upward's infrastructure, grow its engineering and partnerships capabilities, and bring its turnkey platform to more companies across fintech, creator, and gig workforce sectors.

Strategic Partnership with Mastercard

The partnership with Mastercard intends to deepen Upward's ability to deliver innovative financial experiences by integrating Mastercard's network and program benefits — including Mastercard's Easy Savings® and innovative Business Builder Program — into its financial infrastructure. This collaboration supports Upward's customers in launching credit card programs, with a particular focus on empowering the small business and creator economy.

"We're proud to partner with Upward to help close the financial inclusion gap and uplift the small business community," said Ginger Siegel, North America Small Business Lead at Mastercard. "By combining Mastercard's global payments expertise and technology with Upward's innovative fintech infrastructure, we're equipping creators and entrepreneurs with the tools, resources, and financial access they need to grow and thrive—through solutions like Easy Savings and our Business Builder program."

About Upward

Upward is a fintech infrastructure company that makes it turnkey easy for businesses to create, launch, and scale innovative financial products. By combining card issuance, banking, compliance, and payments into a single platform, Upward helps companies unlock new revenue streams with innovative financial products.

For more information, visit www.upwardli.com.

SOURCE Upward Financial