Sardine
Fraud and compliance detection platform for banks, fintechs, and crypto firms.
On the record
Checkpoint: Next priced funding round or a Tier-1 bank/payment rail partnership announcement
The call
Sardine holds ground through regulatory lock-in and consortium data, but Feedzai and its own alumni's AI-native startups keep pressing on the same accounts.
Sardine sells software that catches fraud and money laundering for large banks and payment companies. It is hard to replace because banks get stuck with it once it is running, and Sardine has data from billions of devices that makes its system smarter than new competitors. However, rivals like Feedzai, Sift, and BioCatch can build the same thing under the same rules, so Sardine will likely survive but may not win the whole market. The game changes if Sardine locks in a huge bank or payment network like Visa or Mastercard, which would freeze out everyone else.
Why
01
AI pressure: Alumni-founded AI-native entrants (Infinite, Fraudio, Flagright, Hawk AI). Ex-Sardine builders are shipping AI-native fraud tools that copy the playbook with newer models and lower prices. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Feedzai. Feedzai runs a bigger consortium claiming $8T in processed volume and can chase the same bank and fintech deals. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Regulatory liability lock-in plus a consortium of 6B profiled devices and 800M consumers that ties customers into its risk workflows.
What would change this call
Feedzai or a similar peer announces a signed Tier-1 bank or payment-network deal displacing Sardine. Would show a larger incumbent's consortium data beating Sardine's for major contracts.
Sardine announces a direct integration with FedNow, RTP, or a card network within the next year. Would show Sardine locking in rail-level access competitors cannot easily match.
Sardine closes a new priced round led by a new investor rather than another extension from existing backers. Would show fresh outside confidence in growth versus reliance on existing investors.
Sardine announces a direct integration with FedNow, RTP, or a card network within the next year. Would show Sardine locking in rail-level access competitors cannot easily match.
Sardine closes a new priced round led by a new investor rather than another extension from existing backers. Would show fresh outside confidence in growth versus reliance on existing investors.
Key numbers
- $70M Series C at $660M valuation
- 130% YoY ARR growth in 2024
- 6B devices, 800M consumers in consortium data
Named risks
- Larger peer Feedzai or similar could acquire multiple Sardine enterprise accounts.
- ARR growth could stall below 30% YoY, undercutting the growth narrative behind funding.
- Alumni-founded AI-native entrants (Infinite, Fraudio, Flagright, Hawk AI) fragment the niche Sardine pioneered.
- Series C Extension led by an existing investor rather than a new lead may signal softer new-investor demand.
- Rapid stablecoin market growth ($7.5T volume March 2026) brings regulatory uncertainty to Sardine's expanding crypto-compliance business.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Feedzai | contesting | Feedzai claims $8T in transactions processed, cited as closest peer as of 2026-06-04 |
| Sift | contesting | Listed among 7+ direct competitors in fraud/AML space as of 2026-06-30 |
| Unit21 | contesting | No-code fraud/AML rules platform competing in same enterprise segment, 2025-05-23 |
| Infinite (alumni-founded) | gaining on | AI-native stablecoin compliance startup founded by Sardine alumni, integrated with Sardine 2026-07-02 |
| BioCatch | contesting | Behavioral biometrics competitor named among top Sardine alternatives, 2026-06-30 |
Questions people ask
- Is Sardine profitable in 2026?
- Sardine has not disclosed profitability. It reported 130% YoY ARR growth in 2024 and raised a $70M Series C in February 2025 at a $660M valuation plus a $25M extension in May 2026, suggesting it is still in growth-funded, pre-profit mode.
- Who owns Sardine?
- Sardine is privately held and VC-backed, with no parent company. Investors include Activant Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Nyca Partners, Google Ventures, Moody's Analytics, Experian Ventures, and National Bank of Canada (via NAventures), which led a $25M extension on 2026-05-21.
- Could AI replace Sardine's fraud detection product?
- Unlikely soon. Sardine's moat is proprietary consortium data spanning 6 billion profiled devices and 800 million consumers (as of 2026-06-24) plus regulatory liability lock-in; no frontier AI lab has shipped a competing compliance-grade fraud product as of mid-2026.
- Who is Sardine's biggest competitor?
- Feedzai is the closest direct competitor, claiming $8 trillion in transactions processed as of a June 2026 comparison. Other rivals include Sift, Unit21, SEON, BioCatch, and Featurespace, plus alumni-founded AI-native entrants like Infinite and Fraudio.
- What is Sardine's current valuation?
- Sardine was valued at $660M following its $70M Series C round announced 2025-02-11, led by Activant Capital. A subsequent $25M Series C Extension led by National Bank of Canada closed 2026-05-21; that round's valuation was not separately disclosed.
- Is Sardine expanding into stablecoins and crypto compliance?
- Yes. On 2026-07-02 Sardine launched a two-way integration with Infinite, an AI-native stablecoin compliance platform founded by Sardine alumni, and on 2026-06-24 partnered with Modern Treasury to cover stablecoin, wire, ACH, RTP, and FedNow rails via one API.
Timeline
- 2026-07-02Two-way integration launched with Infinite, a stablecoin compliance platform founded by Sardine alumni
- 2026-06-24Modern Treasury partnership announced, citing 6B devices, 800M consumers, 3M businesses in Sardine's consortium
- 2026-05-21Series C Extension of $25M led by National Bank of Canada, total funding reaches ~$170M
- 2025-11-20CEO Soups Ranjan discusses need for a 'trusted-agent directory' for AI purchasing agents (McKinsey interview)
- 2025-02-11Series C of $70M led by Activant Capital announced at $660M valuation, total raised $145M
- 2025-02-11Four new AI agents launched for KYC, sanctions screening, merchant risk, and disputes, claimed 4X ROI
- 2024Sardine reports 130% YoY ARR growth and nearly doubles its customer base
- 2020Sardine founded by Soups Ranjan, Aditya Goel, and Zahid Shaikh, ex-Revolut and ex-Coinbase risk leaders
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Report: Sardine Business Breakdown & Founding Story
- Sardine AI Raises $70M (2025-02-11)
- Sardine lands $25m as National Bank of Canada deepens bet (2026-05-21)
- Sardine AI Raises $70M to Make Fraud and Compliance Teams More Productive (2026-06-23)
- Modern Treasury Partners With Sardine (2026-06-24)
- $23M Est. ARR, $75.6M Raised (2024-12-19)
- Innovating Financial Fraud Protection (2025-02-11)
- Sardine Raises $70 Million to Expand AI Risk Platform (2025-02-11)
- Infinite and Sardine Launch Two-Way Integration (2026-07-02)
- Best Sardine Alternatives in 2026 (2026-06-04)
- 7 Best Sardine Competitors & Alternatives (2026-06-30)
- Stablecoin On-Chain Volume Reaching 7 Trillion, Surpassing ACH Network (2026-07-20)