Pliant Raises $80 Million as AI Agents Reshape B2B Payments
Berlin-based fintech company Pliant has raised $80 million in Series C funding to expand its business payment infrastructure and accelerate the adoption of AI-powered financial workflows.
The funding round was co-led by Seaya Nova and Speedinvest, with participation from existing investors Illuminate Financial, Motive Partners and Molten Ventures.
The investment comes as businesses increasingly explore AI agents to automate financial operations, manage expenses and execute payment-related tasks. Pliant aims to position its platform as the financial infrastructure connecting these AI agents with business payment systems.
Funding to Support International Expansion
Pliant plans to use the newly raised capital to strengthen its presence in the United States and Canada while preparing to enter additional international markets.
The company has reported three consecutive years of doubling its business and recently surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
Founded in 2020, Pliant employs more than 300 people across eight offices and processes billions of dollars in annual payment volume for businesses and partners across Europe and North America.
How AI Agents Are Changing B2B Payments
Pliant provides a modular payment platform that combines commercial card issuing, payment accounts, foreign exchange and expense management.
Its platform allows businesses to connect external AI agents, including assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude, through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
This integration enables AI agents to participate in business payment workflows and automate repetitive financial tasks while operating within defined permissions, spending controls and audit trails.
The approach could help finance teams reduce manual work, streamline payment processes and improve operational efficiency.
Building Infrastructure for Agentic Payments
As AI agents become more capable of performing business tasks independently, companies need secure and regulated financial infrastructure to support transactions.
Pliant aims to address this requirement by providing the payment infrastructure, regulatory capabilities and controls needed for AI-driven financial operations.
The company operates as a principal member of Visa and Mastercard and issues commercial cards in 13 currencies across 32 countries.
What This Means for the Fintech Industry
Pliant's latest funding round highlights the growing intersection of artificial intelligence and financial technology.
As businesses adopt AI agents for procurement, expense management and financial operations, demand for automated payment infrastructure is expected to increase.
The development also signals a shift in B2B payments, where AI agents could increasingly become active participants in financial workflows rather than simply assisting human employees.
