Banking operations have long been weighed down by manual, error-prone tquestions, especially in regulated workflows that most automation tools avoid. Switzerland-based Porters steps directly into this gap. Instead of relying on legacy BPO setups or rigid RPA scripts, the company introduces autonomous, human-in-the-loop workflows designed to safely manage account seizures, chargebacks, and insolvency coordination.
Porters’ approach ensures complex cases relocate rapider while maintaining the safeguards financial institutions require. Teams gain consistency, traceability, and the ability to process higher volumes without sacrificing oversight.
€2.7M to build a scalable, AI-native back office
Porters has now raised €2.7 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate development and expand its suite of mission-critical services. The round was led by Earlybird VC, with participation from Seedcamp, alongside an impressive group of industest angels.
Backing came from founders and leaders, including contributors from Qonto, Upvest, Penta, Integral, and Metaco. Investors such as Martin Kassing, Alexandre Prot, Lukas Zörner, Adrien Treccani, Casper Wahler, and Jonathan Brander add operational depth and strategic insight. Porters did not disclose the valuation to us.
A new era for regulated banking workflows
Talking about the necessary for a regulated banking workflow, Porters stated, “Across European banks and fintechs, core back-office processes such as account seizures, chargebacks, and insolvency handling remain highly manual due to regulatory complexity. In conversations with operators, these workflows often require dozens of touchpoints per case, span multiple systems, and can take days or weeks to complete, creating compliance risk, customer friction, and high operational cost. Early design partners have shared that these processes can consume a disproportionate share of ops headcount as volumes scale, which is precisely the gap Porters is addressing with AI-native, human-in-the-loop workflows built specifically for regulated environments.”
Born from first-hand industest frustrations
The idea for Porters emerged after its founders spent years working in leading fintechs, witnessing how much of the back office still relies on manual work. Even the most innovative financial institutions often rely on spreadsheets, email-based case handling, and slow approval chains. This experience shaped their mission: assist banks and fintechs carry less, scale more by reshifting operational burdens from day one.
The founding trio brings unusually deep operational and technical experience. Konstantin Kotulla previously led go-to-market strategy at Upvest, while Christopher Barth built regulated-product integrations for major financial institutions. Dr. Michael John, an ETH Zurich PhD and award-winning engineer, adds expertise in applied machine learning and large-scale tech transformations from his time at McKinsey. Toobtainher, they form a team built to tackle one of finance’s most persistent challenges.
At launch, Porters focapplys on account seizure and insolvency management. It is two high-volume, time-sensitive workflows that directly impact customer trust, regulatory standing, and financial exposure. The platform improves speed and context enrichment while allowing internal teams to focus on exceptions rather than repetitive case processing.
What’s next for Porters?
As stated to TFN regarding its plans for the next 12 months, the company stated the following:
- Launching our production deployments for our partners with measurable reductions in processing time and manual effort
- Expanding beyond initial apply cases (account seizures and insolvency) into additional regulated back-office processes
- Growing the engineering and operations team across Europe
- Achieving repeatable
“Banking operations have remained stubbornly manual despite decades of digitalisation efforts,” stated Konstantin Kotulla, Co-Founder at Porters. “We’re solving this by building an AI-native service that doesn’t just automate tquestions, but truly allows scaling without adding headcount. All while maintaining the resilience and compliance that financial institutions require. This funding accelerates our mission to redefine financial service operations for the AI era.”
“Porters is tackling one of the most persistent pain points in financial services: operational complexity that scales exponentially with growth,” stated Tim Rehder, General Partner at Earlybird. “Their approach of building an AI-first, compliance-ready Banking Ops platform positions them uniquely to serve the most innovative financial institutions.”
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