Fintech firm Mercury is accelerating its push to become a full-service financial platform for businesses, entering the payroll market through the acquisition of AI startup Central, while reportedly pursuing a new funding round at valuation exceeding $5B.
The dual developments underscore Mercury’s ambition to evolve beyond its roots in startup banking into a broader “financial operating system” that manages the full lifecycle of company finances.
Fundraising momentum signals investor confidence
Mercury is reportedly in advanced talks with investors to secure fresh capital at a valuation above $5 billion — a notable potential increase from its previous $3.5 billion valuation secured a year ago after raising $300M in Sequoia-led Series C. The prospective raise reflects strong investor appetite for fintech platforms that combine banking with embedded financial workflows.
The new funding, if completed, would position Mercury more aggressively against competitors building all-in-one finance stacks for startups and small businesses. The company’s growth has been driven by expanding revenues, a focus on profitability, and a widening product suite that now spans business accounts, cards, and payments infrastructure. Its latest expansion involves a adding a payroll solution suite driven by the fresh acquisition.
Payroll expansion through Central acquisition
On Friday, the company managament announced that Mercury has acquired Central, an AI-native payroll, benefits, and compliance platform designed for startups.
Central differentiates itself with a hybrid model that combines artificial intelligence automation with human oversight, aiming to handle operational complexity on behalf of customers rather than simply providing tools. The platform already serves nearly 500 startups and has processed more than $175 million in payroll.
The move brings Mercury into one of the most critical and “sticky” segments of business finance. Payroll is not only a major expense category, typically accounting for ~30%–50% of total operating expenses, but also a core operational workflow tied to compliance, tax reporting, and employee management, making it a strategic foothold for deeper customer integration.
CEO frames deal as closing a long-standing gap
In announcing the acquisition, Mercury CEO and founder Immad Akhund emphasized how little payroll infrastructure has evolved compared to other startup tools in the last few decades and expressed a belief that agentic tools overseen by human experts could be the best fit to finally alleviate the managerial payroll burden:
“I remember an ADP rep coming to my office with a literal binder to set up payroll.
A binder. That was the best option available to us in 2009.
I’ve been doing startups since 2006. Over the last 20 years, I’ve watched the tools founders use to build get completely reinvented. But the financial back office? Still frozen in time.
Today, Mercury has acquired Central, an AI-native payroll, benefits, and compliance platform for startups.
Central’s bet: don’t sell founders software and leave them to figure it out. Have AI agents and human experts do the work for them. Nearly 500 startup customers. $175M in payroll processed.
Payroll has been a missing piece for Mercury. Central is how we close that gap.”
Building the “CFO stack”
The acquisition aligns with a broader fintech trend toward consolidation, as companies race to offer unified platforms that integrate banking, payments, spend management, and back-office operations.
By adding payroll, Mercury strengthens its position in what industry insiders often call the “CFO stack” — a single system that manages all financial flows within a business. Control over payroll, in particular, provides deeper access to recurring cash flows, compliance processes, and employee data, increasing customer retention and platform stickiness.
Strategic outlook
Founded in 2017 in San Francisco, California, Mercury gradually evolved from business bank accounts provider into a multifaceted fintech, adding financial offerings to its tech stack one by one. Its strategy is paying off, reflecting in healthy dynamics of the financial reports. In 2024, Mercury boasted $500 million revenue, and had $156 billion in payment volume. In 2025, the company saw a substantial step-up across both revenue and payment volume: $650 million (annualized) and $248 billion, respectively.
Taken together, the fundraising push and Central acquisition suggest Mercury is entering a new phase of growth — one focused less on niche startup banking and more on becoming an embedded financial infrastructure provider. If successful, the strategy could redefine Mercury’s role in the fintech ecosystem, positioning it not just as a neobank, but as a core operating layer for modern businesses.
