HighBeam Research

What HighBeam Research does

Highbeam, Inc. is a New York-based financial technology company that operates an integrated banking, credit, and AI-driven cash management platform purpose-built for direct-to-consumer and ecommerce brands typically generating above $5 million in annual sales. The platform combines FDIC-insured business banking (provided through a Thread Bank partnership, with up to $3M in deposit insurance), revolving lines of credit and cash advances, a branded Visa debit card with up to 2% cashback on advertising spend, integrated bill pay, and an agentic AI finance layer branded as Luma and Highbeam Intelligence. The AI layer exposes four autonomous agents (Analyst, Bookkeeping Assistant, Treasury Agent, and Alerts & Reporting Agent) trained on more than $15 billion of consumer brand transactions, with 40+ finance workflows and disclosed categorization accuracy above 95%.

Highbeam generates revenue through multiple streams: interchange and cashback economics on the Highbeam Card, interest income on revolving credit and cash advance products, net interest margin on deposits (with promotional savings APY up to 3.29%), subscription fees for the premium "Accelerate" tier, and transaction fees on international wires. Distribution combines a self-serve product-led growth onboarding flow (account creation in under five minutes) with inside sales support and a B2B2C referral network of financial advisors, accounting firms, investors, lenders, and a Boundless AI partnership that channels capital-seeking ecommerce brands into the platform. The company operates exclusively in the United States.

Founded in 2019, Highbeam had raised approximately $37 million in cumulative funding as of September 2025, including a $30 million Series A led by Acrew Capital with participation from Two Sigma Ventures, Vesey Ventures, and existing seed investors FirstMark and Mayfield. The company reports managing over $5 billion in annual cash transactions for hundreds of consumer brands and discloses year-over-year growth metrics of 3x in customer GMV, 3.5x in deposits, and 5x in card spend. Customer logos span apparel (Suzie Kondi, Birddogs, Alex Crane, Cuts Clothing, Avocado, New York or Nowhere), footwear (Sabah), watches and accessories (Original Grain, Vada Jewelry), personal care (Tushy), sleep (Saatva), furniture (Branch Furniture), food and beverage (Kolkata Chai), and consumer products (Alloi, Portal, Sharma Brands). Note: a firmographic record in the input labeled "HighBeam Research" as a Chicago-based research service founded in 2002 conflicts with the operational data; the description above reflects the operational evidence from company materials, the company timeline, and management records.

Name

HighBeam Research

Legal name

Highbeam, Inc.

Website

https://highbeam.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Highbeam is a New York fintech providing an integrated banking, credit, and AI finance platform purpose-built for U.S. direct-to-consumer and ecommerce brands, managing over $5B in annual cash transactions for hundreds of customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Brand Banking Platform

NAICS

Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (522), Other Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (522390), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

akta.pro primary industry

Embedded/Platform Neobanks (Banking-as-a-Feature) (FSABAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Banking & Neobank Platforms (BPAMAFAD), Lending & Credit Disbursements (FSAMAKAH)

Keywords

• Consumer brand banking
• D2C fintech platform
• AI finance automation
• Ecommerce treasury management
• Embedded credit services

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Banking and Platform Subscription: Free tier available. Paid Accelerate plan offers enhanced features including higher APY rates (up to 4.04% on high-yield savings, up to 2.02% APY on checking), free Bill Pay, same-day ACH, AI agents, and white-glove implementation. Revenue from platform subscription fees.
2. Interest Income on Credit Products: Revenue generated from revolving line of credit and cash advance products. Flat APR on loans, clearly called out as APR. Automated underwriting designed to boost credit levels monthly as business grows.
3. Card Transaction Revenue: Revenue from card interchange and cashback program. Up to 2% uncapped cash back on advertising spend, 1% on everything else. International card transactions incur 1% fee charged by Visa.
4. Payment Processing Fees: ACH and domestic wire transfers are free. International transfers sent in USD have a flat fee of $20 to cover SWIFT charges. Non-USD transfers are free after currency exchange.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Highbeam provides a unified financial platform purpose-built for consumer/DTC brands, combining FDIC-insured banking (checking and high-yield savings), revolving capital and cash advance products, a Visa debit card with advertising cashback, integrated bill pay, and an AI-powered finance team (Luma / Highbeam Intelligence) that automates treasury, bookkeeping, forecasting, and reporting. Banking services are delivered in partnership with Thread Bank, Member FDIC, while the software layer — including AI agents trained on over $15B of consumer-brand transactions — is proprietary to Highbeam.

Product overview

Highbeam is a comprehensive financial platform for consumer brands offering an integrated suite of banking, credit, and cash management products. The platform centers on Luma (AI-powered finance team), Highbeam Intelligence (agentic AI platform with Analyst, Bookkeeping, Treasury, and Alerts agents), core Banking services with checking/savings (up to 3.29% APY, $3M FDIC insurance), Capital products (revolving credit lines, cash advances), the Highbeam Card (2% ad spend cash back), Bill Pay, and Ad Spend Manager. All products integrate into a unified platform designed specifically for ecommerce and consumer brands managing over $5M in annual sales.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Luma: AI-powered finance team for consumer brands - an intelligent financial operating system that provides forecasting, scenario planning, automated bill pay and invoicing, and financial decision-making capabilities.
• Highbeam Intelligence

Products and services

• Luma AI-powered finance team for D2C brands that automates scenario planning, treasury, bookkeeping, and financial decision-making, providing forecasting, workflow orchestration, and intelligent financial guidance built specifically for consumer brands.
• Highbeam Intelligence Agentic Finance Platform featuring AI agents (Analyst, Bookkeeping Assistant, Treasury Agent, Alerts & Reporting Agent) that automate cash management, scenario planning, and reporting for consumer brands, with the ability to take action by moving money and automating workflows under finance team supervision.
• Banking

Quantifiable outcome

• Suzie Kondi cut its cost of capital by 70% after switching to Highbeam
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability9 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Boundless AIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 April 2025Official Boundless AI e-commerce banking partner. Consumer brands working with Boundless AI for capital access can take advantage of Highbeam's capital offering upon approval. Brands taking advantage of the partnership receive three free months of Highbeam's Accelerate plan. The partnership combines Highbeam's banking platform with Boundless AI's debt marketplace and lending algorithms to provide streamlined access to capital and banking for consumer brands.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bluevine: Bluevine provides business banking, credit, and payments to SMBs—including a strong focus on small businesses that need integrated checking, high-yield savings, and working capital lines—directly competing with Highbeam's combined banking-plus-capital model.
• Novo: Novo is a digital-first business banking platform targeting SMBs and entrepreneurs with integrated checking, payments, and small-business credit, directly comparable to Highbeam's banking + capital + cards stack for small/mid-market brands.
• NorthOne: NorthOne is an online business banking account built for small businesses with integrated invoicing, payments, and cash flow tools. Same SMB-banking-plus-tools positioning that competes with Highbeam in the small-and-mid-market brand segment.
• Relay Financial: Relay Financial is a small business banking and money management platform with checking, savings, and bill pay—closely comparable to Highbeam's core banking and treasury automation features for SMB customers.
• Found: Found is a business banking platform tailored to self-employed individuals and small businesses, with built-in bookkeeping, tax tools, and access to capital. Comparable to Highbeam's integrated banking + bookkeeping + capital offering for SMBs and founders.

Broad incumbents

• Brex: Brex offers corporate cards, business banking, expense management, and AI-driven financial tools to startups through enterprise. It is a broader incumbent that overlaps Highbeam on cards, banking, and AI finance workflows for high-growth companies.
• Mercury: Mercury provides internet-native business banking, treasury, and AI-powered cash management (Mercury Cashflow AI) to startups and SMBs—a wide-incumbent overlap on banking, high-yield treasury, and AI finance workflows with Highbeam's offerings.
• Ramp: Ramp combines corporate cards, bill pay, and AI-driven finance automation for businesses of all sizes. Its all-in-one spend, banking, and AI accounting automation stack overlaps with Highbeam's cards, bill pay, and AI bookkeeping.

Emerging players

• Stripe Treasury: Stripe Treasury offers embedded financial accounts (BaaS) allowing platforms to embed FDIC-insured banking. While B2B infrastructure-focused, it competes with Highbeam's banking-as-platform positioning for verticals seeking their own branded banking stack.
• Airwallex: Airwallex provides cross-border business banking, payments, and treasury for growing international companies. It is Highbeam's money-transmitter partner (Airwallex US, LLC), and similarly targets DTC and ecommerce brands needing multi-currency banking.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/highbeamsearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/highbeam-research
• Instagraminstagram.com/highbeamapp
• Facebookfacebook.com/highbeamresearch

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HighBeam Research