Unit
Unit helps startups embed financial products into their apps without becoming a bank.
Unit is a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform that enables companies to embed financial features—checking accounts, cards, payments, and lending—directly into their products via APIs, SDKs, and white-labeled UIs. The platform reduces what typically takes 18 months of bank negotiations and compliance work into a 5-week deployment. Unit differentiates by owning its own ledger, the most critical and sensitive part of the ecosystem, delivering superior technical control and user experience compared to competitors.
Problem solved
Companies wanting to offer financial services to customers face 18+ months of complex bank negotiations, compliance requirements, and multi-vendor integrations.
Target customer
Series B+ fintech startups, marketplace platforms, neobanks, and high-growth companies needing embedded banking capabilities without regulatory overhead
Founders
I
Itai Damti
CEO & Co-Founder
Started coding at 12, served as software developer in Israeli Defense Forces while studying mathematics at Open University, co-founded fintech platform Leverate (160 employees, $100B monthly trading volume), Fintech EIR at 500 Startups.
D
Doron Somech
CTO & Co-Founder
Co-founded Leverate with Damti as technology provider for online brokers offering liquidity, risk management, and compliance tools.
Funding history
Series A
$18.6M
December 2020
Led by Accel
· Better Tomorrow Ventures, Aleph, Flourish Ventures, TLV Partners
Series B
$51M
June 2021
Led by Accel
· Better Tomorrow Ventures, Aleph, Flourish Ventures, TLV Partners
Series C
$100M
May 17, 2022
Led by Insight Partners
· Accel, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Aleph, Flourish Ventures, TLV Partners, StepStone Group, Moving Capital
Total raised:
$169.6M
Industries
Notable customers
Wethos, Lance, Benepass, Moves, Tribevest, Wix (financial services partnership)
Integrations
Pacific West Bank, Thread Bank, multiple FDIC-insured partner banks
Website
Competitors
Treasury Prime
Founded 2017, connects to network of 16 banks for account opening and card issuance, but less vertical integration of ledger infrastructure.
Railbank
Embedded banking platform with similar positioning; Unit differentiates through ledger ownership and technical control.
Galileo Financial Technologies
Founded 2001, pioneered API-first card issuing but now owned by SoFi; broader legacy platform with different integration model.
Stripe
Broader fintech infrastructure platform; Unit is more specialized in embedded banking and account management.
Why this matters: Unit became a unicorn in just 3 years (2019–2022) by solving a real pain point: the 18-month slog of embedding financial services. Its technical differentiation around ledger ownership and the impressive customer metrics (1.38M end-customers, $28.7B transaction volume) show strong product-market fit in a competitive space with well-funded competitors.
Best for: Companies building marketplace or platform products that need embedded banking without becoming a licensed bank themselves.
Use cases
Marketplace Account Segregation
Marketplaces use Unit to create sub-accounts and internal ledgers for each seller, automatically settling payments between parties. A freelance platform like Upwork could use Unit's configurable ledger to hold funds in escrow and route payments without managing multiple bank accounts.
Embedded Payroll & Wallet Features
HR platforms or gig work apps embed FDIC-insured checking accounts and debit cards directly into their UIs for instant payouts. Workers get dedicated account numbers for direct deposits and ACH transfers within the app, reducing friction to 5 weeks instead of 18 months of bank setup.
Neobank Rapid Launch
Early-stage fintech founders can launch a branded digital bank with KYC, AML, cards, and ACH within weeks using Unit's white-labeled components and bank partnerships, avoiding the cost of negotiating directly with banking networks.
Lending Product Integration
Buy-now-pay-later or lending platforms use Unit's API to issue virtual cards, manage credit limits within configurable sub-accounts, and reconcile lending transactions across multiple bank partners automatically.
Alternatives
Treasury Prime
Choose if you need connections to many banks (16+) and want flexibility across multiple banking partners; Unit is better if you prefer single-vendor simplicity with ledger control.
Galileo Financial Technologies
Choose if you're building legacy-compatible integrations or prefer SoFi's backing; Unit is better for modern API-first teams wanting faster deployment.
Stripe Connect
Choose if you need payments and payouts on a single platform; Unit is better if you specifically need embedded bank accounts, ACH, and ledger management.
FAQ
What does Unit do? +
Unit is a banking-as-a-service platform that lets companies embed financial products—bank accounts, cards, payments, and lending—into their applications via APIs and white-labeled UIs. Instead of spending 18 months negotiating with banks and compliance vendors, companies can launch financial features in 5 weeks using Unit's infrastructure, bank partnerships, and unified dashboard.
How much does Unit cost? +
Unit does not publicly disclose pricing. Pricing is custom and likely based on transaction volume, number of accounts, and feature set. Contact Unit's sales team for a quote.
What are alternatives to Unit? +
Treasury Prime (multi-bank network approach), Galileo Financial Technologies (broader legacy platform), Stripe Connect (payments-focused), and Railbank (similar embedded banking model). Choice depends on whether you prioritize ledger control, bank optionality, or payments integration.
Who uses Unit? +
Marketplace platforms (Wethos, Tribevest), gig economy apps (Lance), employee benefits platforms (Benepass), and fintech startups. Unit serves 1.38M end-customers across high-growth startups and public companies, with $28.7B in annualized transaction volume.
How does Unit compare to Treasury Prime? +
Unit owns and operates its own ledger, giving it deeper technical control and faster deployment; Treasury Prime connects to a network of 16 banks but relies on partners' systems. Unit is better if you want simplicity and speed; Treasury Prime is better if you want flexibility across multiple banking partners.
What makes Unit different from competitors? +
Unit owns its ledger—the most critical and sensitive component of banking infrastructure—rather than delegating to third parties. This ownership allows Unit to offer tighter control, better user experience, and faster deployment than competitors who rely on partner ledgers.
Is Unit regulated as a bank? +
No. Unit is a software platform that partners with FDIC-insured banks. Unit's customers integrate Unit's APIs; the end-customers' accounts are FDIC-insured through Unit's bank partners, but Unit itself is not a bank.
Tags
banking-as-a-service
BaaS
embedded banking
APIs
fintech infrastructure
financial products
payments
accounts
ledger
compliance