Maximum Raises $30M Seed to Build AI-Native Banking OS

Maximum has emerged from stealth with a $30 million seed round to develop an AI-native operating system for the banking sector. The funding, one of the largest seed rounds in fintech, provides banks with a modern infrastructure designed to replace outdated legacy core systems.

The investment was led by CRV, with additional participation from Anthemis, Plug and Play Ventures, Restive, and Pear VC. The company was founded by Randy Fernando, a fintech veteran who previously founded Vault, acquired by Acorns in 2017, and Power, sold to Marqeta in 2023.

The Legacy Core Problem

Modern banking is hindered by massive technical debt. More than 70% of the nearly 5,000 banks operating in the United States still rely on legacy core systems built in the last century. These systems predated mobile banking, real-time payments, and artificial intelligence, leaving institutions with infrastructure fundamentally incompatible with today's digital demands.

According to Fernando, banks have spent decades attempting to meet evolving customer needs using infrastructure never designed for the modern world. This reliance on antiquated systems makes innovation slow and prohibitively expensive, as banks are forced to build layers of patches over rigid, old code.

Shifting to Agentic Infrastructure

Maximum positions its platform as a foundational shift rather than an incremental update. By building an AI-native OS, the company allows banks to deploy custom agents that automate complex operational workflows. This agentic approach moves intelligence into the infrastructure level, enabling banks to streamline internal processes and enhance security measures against AI-driven threats.

Caitlin Bolnick Rellas, General Partner at CRV, noted that every generation of infrastructure eventually reaches a point where incremental improvements are no longer sufficient. For the banking industry, the transition to an AI-native core represents a move away from the "patchwork" method of updating legacy software toward a system built specifically for the era of intelligent automation.

The Path Forward

As Maximum begins its rollout, the industry will watch how quickly traditional banks migrate from legacy cores to a new operating system. While the $30 million investment provides significant runway, the primary challenge remains the high friction associated with replacing the central nervous system of a financial institution. The company's success depends on whether banks are willing to undergo a full architectural overhaul to achieve the efficiency and security promised by agentic infrastructure.