Cari, a Washington, D.C.-based fintech developing a bank-governed digital money network, has raised $32.5 million in the first tranche of its initial external funding round. The financing came entirely from banks. Investors include First Horizon Bank, Huntington Bank, KeyBank, M&T Bank, Old National Bank, SouthState Bank and Glacier Bank. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Stifel company, served as financial adviser to Cari on the transaction.
Cari’s founding team comprises Gene Ludwig, founder and CEO, Matthew “Louie” Giacomini, cofounder and COO, and Phoebe Kunitomi, cofounder, CPO and CMO.
The company is building shared infrastructure that allows chartered banks to issue and transfer tokenized deposits. Cari’s digital rail operates on a permissioned Layer-2 blockchain, with transactions processed on the network and periodically settled to Ethereum using validity proofs. The system is designed to support programmable and always-on digital money movement within a bank-governed environment.
Cari said the new capital will support its move toward production, expansion of the network, bank onboarding and integration, additional programmable-money use cases, and digital asset capabilities for participating banks.
The company launched its first minimum viable product on March 31, 2026, and delivered a broader product suite on July 31. More than 30 financial institutions have joined the network, while more than 40 others are in discussions to participate, according to Cari.
