Karta Raises $140M led by Galaxy Ventures and Community Investment Management LLC ("CIM") to Bring U.S. Credit Cards to Global Travelers
MIAMI, June 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Karta, a U.S.-issued credit card designed for global travelers with a 24/7 AI concierge service, today announced a fundraise of $140 million, including a $15 million Series A and a $125 million credit facility. The Series A round was led by Galaxy Ventures, with participation from new investors such as Illuminate and existing investors such as Canary and Clocktower Ventures. The $125M debt facility was provided by CIM. This milestone comes at a time when Karta is experiencing explosive growth, scaling its total payment volumes and revenue by 4x quarter-over-quarter.
Many international travelers have established credit histories in their home countries, but are credit-invisible in the United States (US). They are stuck navigating purchases with debit cards, prepaid cards, or local credit cards that impose costly FX fees the moment they travel. Despite these travelers having assets, they lack access to meaningful credit lines, premium benefits, and financial recognition in the U.S.
Karta is the premium credit card built to solve this for international travelers to the US, and is offered through more than 80 private banks and wealth managers. Approval for a Karta card takes minutes with no SSN or ITIN required, and offers credit lines up to $200,000. The Karta card provides the benefits of a Visa premium card including zero FX fees, points, and access to invite-only events.
Karta also boasts a 24/7 AI concierge based on WhatsApp. It browses, calls, and emails, and can generate one-time virtual cards to make purchases on a customer's behalf including hard-to-access hotel and restaurant reservations. As an example, Karta's concierge can call airlines directly to change flights, dispute a charge, reschedule a reservation, and manage payment. Karta handles it end-to-end, with real-time notifications on every purchase and refund.
The new capital in this round will fuel Karta's product roadmap on three fronts: to launch an elevated tier card for the most demanding clients, to introduce a corporate card and payment platform, and to continue reinventing the global travel concierge experience.
Karta is led by founders Freddy Juez and Orlando Espinoza. Freddy previously ran a payroll lending fintech in his native Ecuador, extending credit to hundreds of thousands of clients and managing millions in AUM. Orlando, a YC-backed founder, previously built and sold a last-mile logistics company while still in his early twenties.
They hired Fernando Dalceggio, the former head of acquisition and new business development from AMEX International Dollar Cards (IDC), to help build Karta. Dalceggio worked for AMEX IDC for nearly 25 years, managing multinational, multicultural teams providing high-impact service portfolios to a diverse customer base.
"In the last several months, we've seen explosive growth," said Freddy Juez. "We set out to build the ultimate tech-forward credit card for the global traveler, and are thrilled to see the rapid increase in private banks working with us to offer this card to clients. We also appreciate the support of our partners and investors who will help Karta expand our reach and AI offering that makes travel and spending convenient and frictionless for users."
"Karta's unique product offering has quickly earned the trust of dozens of the world's largest financial institutions," said Mike Giampapa, General Partner of Galaxy Ventures. "The company has built an efficient distribution model targeting a high-value and engaged customer base, a combination that creates the foundation for a strong business."
About Karta
Karta is a U.S.-issued credit card designed for global travelers. By leveraging its 80+ partner banks for distribution, Karta gets access to customers across LatAm, Europe and Asia. The company delivers a concierge-led experience supported by 24/7 multilingual service via WhatsApp, combining technology and personalized support to serve an international clientele with cross-border lifestyles. Headquartered in Miami with operations in São Paulo, Brazil, Karta is backed by Galaxy Ventures, Illuminate, Canary, Clocktower, and FJ Labs. For more information, visit www.conkarta.com.
About Galaxy Ventures
Galaxy Ventures is the venture capital arm of Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ:GLXY), a global leader in digital assets and data center infrastructure, delivering solutions that accelerate progress in finance and artificial intelligence. Galaxy Ventures invests at the convergence of blockchains and financial services, backing founders building the infrastructure that works to define the next era of finance. Actively investing since 2018, Galaxy Ventures offers portfolio companies access to Galaxy Digital's institutional relationships, capital markets capabilities, and hands-on platform support to accelerate growth from seed through scale. Galaxy Ventures has backed 100+ portfolio companies since inception including Fireblocks, Rain, RedotPay, Mesh, Ethena, and Superstate. For the full list of portfolio companies and more information, visit ventures.galaxy.com.
About CIM
Community Investment Management (CIM) is a global institutional investment manager providing strategic debt capital to scale responsible innovation in lending. As part of its investment mandate, CIM partners with fintechs to address credit gaps in the US and emerging markets. For more information, visit https://cim-llc.com.
Media contact:
Kerry Metzdorf
Big Swing
978-463-2575
kerry@big-swing.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/13ca0acf-89bb-48f8-a4ea-21e8dcc451ae
