ModernFi: ‘Canapi’s ecosystem means portfolio companies and financial institutions are aligned, so everyone wins”

By Paolo Bertolotti

Paolo Bertolotti is Cofounder and CEO of ModernFi, a deposit network built on a modern tech stack that enables financial institutions to provide additional security to depositors and manage their balance sheets.

It’s impossible to disentangle ModernFi’s story from Canapi. I feel in many ways that we’ve built the firm together. Canapi empowered us to build from a good idea, to a solid foundation, to an emerging leader in the space.

When we started ModernFi, our vision was shaped by years of working in finance and machine learning, with a deep interest in how banks could best manage their balance sheets and serve their customers. I found it to be a fascinating and critical challenge, but when we launched in January 2022, it wasn’t something people were talking about all that much.

Then Silicon Valley Bank failed. 

SVB’s collapse in March 2023 highlighted the fundamental importance of sound management and financial infrastructure. Suddenly, ModernFi’s mission and thesis lay at the center of market needs.

Many influential banks were talking to each other, saying, “Look, this feels existential. We need a much better solution.” Canapi was part of those conversations, and they told the banks: “We know a company that can solve this. Let’s band together and make it happen.”

Canapi led ModernFi’s Series A and later our Series B, beginning a true partnership that has been fundamental to the strength of our product and our success.

Canapi takes action with credibility, connections, and commitment

One of the reasons why ModernFi is so beautifully aligned with Canapi is because we deeply believe that the banking sector is the engine of the American economy. Canapi understands financial institutions are a key ingredient in American economic exceptionalism—powering communities, launching small businesses, and much more—and so they do everything they can to help solve banks’ pain points.

“Canapi’s bank LPs become early collaborators, shapers, and adopters of leading technology: tools that have been purpose-built for their needs, with their direct input.”

Canapi has built an ecosystem where everyone is aligned, so everyone wins. Portfolio companies succeed by solving the problems faced by Canapi’s network of Limited Partner banking institutions, and the bank LPs succeed because their problems are being solved. Everybody wins.

This also means Canapi’s 70 bank LPs become early collaborators, shapers, and adopters of leading technology: tools that have been purpose-built for their needs, with their direct input. Our early bank partners have made a significant impact on our strategy in terms of how we focus, where we prioritize, and what we want the long-term product roadmap to look like.

Beyond hearing directly from LPs about their top-of-mind pain points, we also get so much from our relationships with the Canapi team. Their operating experience is unparalleled: [Canapi Partner] Neil Underwood and [Managing Partner] Gene Ludwig built multiple tier-1 institutions that have shaped the way the U.S. banking system works. 

When I have the opportunity to  discuss deposit management with Gene, who was the Clinton administration’s chief banking regulator, or with Neil, who has founded several fintech unicorns, I feel fortunate to be able to tap into their knowledge. And it’s not just conversations. They care deeply about ModernFi: They celebrate the wins, support us through major decisions, and help guide us to success.

"Canapi’s team has always believed in us just as much as we believe in ourselves."

Our shared purpose is what made everything else possible. But what sets Canapi apart is how they translate that alignment into action through credibility, connections, and commitment. Gene made personal introductions to leaders across the banking world. Neil and the rest of the Canapi team have supported us in strategic planning, team-building, and navigating the complex world of banking compliance and regulation.

In this and so many other ways, Canapi will treat you like a partner rather than a portfolio company.

Canapi transformed our trajectory. With their support, we went from a promising idea to an emerging leader serving more than 400 financial institutions. Gene will be the first to say the goal is several thousand. It’s energizing to have that shared ambition to empower thousands of financial institutions to thrive in an environment that’s changing so rapidly.

I am a fortunate person to be in this seat, and we would not be here without the Canapi team. There’s much more to do, and all the work is still ahead. We show up excited every day because we have a special opportunity to build something meaningful to thousands of institutions and the people they serve.