Fintech’s Underdog: Rex Salisbury’s Cambrian Ventures Raises New Fund Amid Market Chill
Fintech may have cooled off since its blockbuster boom in 2021, but one venture capitalist is doubling down on the sector’s vast untapped potential. Rex Salisbury, founder of Cambrian Ventures, just closed a new investment fund, pushing back against the narrative that fintech’s best days are behind it. With deep industry experience and a powerhouse network, Salisbury is betting on the 99% of global financial services revenue that fintech has yet to capture.
Betting Against the Hype Cycle
Back in 2015, Salisbury made a bold pivot from investment banking to fintech engineering during a pivotal moment in the industry’s rise. It was the era when Stripe, Plaid, and Wealthfront were just beginning to scale, and Lending Club’s IPO was still fresh news. “That time felt electric,” Salisbury told TechCrunch. “The industry was wide open, and fintech was rewriting the rules of finance.”
Fast forward to today, and the fintech scene has transformed dramatically. The fever pitch of 2021, fueled by sky-high valuations and blockbuster funding rounds, has significantly cooled. Interest rates have climbed, public markets have gotten jittery, and many investors have grown cautious. Yet, Salisbury remains undeterred. “The common story is that fintech’s growth is peaking — but if you know where to look, there’s still gold to mine,” he said.
His thesis is simple but powerful: fintech has only tapped into about 1% of the global financial services market. Billions of underserved customers and inefficient legacy systems across payments, lending, insurance, and wealth management remain ripe for disruption.
Cambrian Ventures: A Fintech Powerhouse in the Making
Founded after Salisbury’s stint as the founding member of Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) fintech practice, Cambrian Ventures has quickly gained traction as a go-to early-stage investor in financial technology. Salisbury’s investments include Deel, a startup that has become a giant in global payroll and HR tools.
Cambrian’s strength comes not only from Salisbury’s sharp eye but also from a robust network of founders and industry insiders. The fund’s limited partners include leading fintech founders from NerdWallet, Plaid, Betterment, and Melio, alongside institutional backers such as major banks and life insurers.
This blend of entrepreneurial and institutional backing gives Cambrian a unique edge. It fosters deep collaboration with portfolio companies, offering both product expertise and access to legacy financial institutions eager to modernize.
Why Now? The Untapped 99% and the Road Ahead
Despite the recent market chill, Salisbury argues the fintech opportunity is far from saturated. Globally, trillions of dollars in financial services are still operated inefficiently, especially in underbanked regions and complex niches like insurance tech and embedded finance.
“Fintech is no longer just about flashy payments apps or neobanks,” Salisbury explained. “The next wave will target the core plumbing of finance — compliance, risk, underwriting, payroll, and wealth management — areas that have been ignored or underserved.”
Cambrian Ventures’ new fund, raised in mid-2025, is earmarked for startups pioneering in these foundational fintech realms. The goal: to back mission-driven companies building scalable, regulation-savvy platforms that can capture large swaths of the market overlooked by bigger players.
A Fresh Chapter for Fintech Investors
The broader fintech ecosystem has been recalibrating since the boom years. Many investors have pulled back or shifted focus to AI, crypto, or climate tech. Against this backdrop, Cambrian Ventures’ raise signals confidence in fintech’s enduring value and the importance of specialist knowledge and networks to unlock it.
Salisbury’s path is a reminder that market sentiment can be cyclical, but fundamental opportunities often endure. With his new fund, Cambrian Ventures aims to prove that fintech’s story is far from over — it’s just entering a new, more strategic chapter.
Stay Tuned
As fintech continues its evolution, Cambrian Ventures’ fresh capital and vision may help shape the sector’s next decade. For a deeper dive into Rex Salisbury’s journey and Cambrian’s bold bets, read the full story over at TechCrunch:
Rex Salisbury’s Cambrian Ventures raises new fund, bucking fintech slowdown
Keywords
fintech, Cambrian Ventures, Rex Salisbury, investment fund, financial technology, startup funding, venture capital
Published: July 16, 2025
By Marina Temkin, TechCrunch contributor and venture capital reporter