Miami startup Maximum has emerged from stealth with $30 million in seed funding and an ambitious target: replace the legacy infrastructure still sitting underneath much of the U.S. banking system.
The company, founded by repeat fintech entrepreneur Randy Fernando, says more than 70% of nearly 5,000 U.S. banks still operate on core systems built during the last century.
Maximum wants to replace that infrastructure with something designed around AI from the start.
A New Core for Old Banks
The problem Maximum is targeting is less visible than the banking apps customers interact with every day.
Behind those apps are core banking systems that can be decades old. Maximum argues that this infrastructure makes it harder and more expensive for banks to launch new products, automate operations, respond to threats and keep pace with changing customer expectations.
Rather than adding AI on top of those systems, Maximum is building AI into the underlying platform.
Its operating system is designed to allow financial institutions to deploy custom AI agents capable of automating complex operational workflows, provide real-time visibility into customer activity and help banks launch new financial products.
That puts Maximum in a much bigger market than simply selling another AI tool to banks.
It is trying to become part of the infrastructure itself.
$30 Million to Take On Banking's Plumbing
The seed round was led by CRV, with participation from Pear VC, Restive, Plug and Play Ventures, Anthemis and other investors.
Maximum describes the financing as one of the largest seed rounds in fintech.
The company will use the capital to accelerate product development, expand its engineering and operations teams and support implementations with its growing bank customer base.
Maximum says larger community and regional banks have already shown interest, with plans eventually to serve institutions of all sizes.
A Familiar Miami Founder
Fernando brings an unusual amount of fintech history to the project.
He previously founded Vault, which was acquired by Acorns in 2017, and Power, which was acquired by Marqeta in 2023.
Several investors backing Maximum also supported Fernando's previous companies, giving the startup a group of backers already familiar with his track record.
The company has similarly recruited people who worked with Fernando previously, bringing experience across banking, payments and financial infrastructure.
Why AI Changes the Equation
Maximum isn't simply betting that banks need newer software.
It is betting that AI changes what banking infrastructure itself needs to be capable of.
AI agents can potentially operate across complex workflows that previously required employees to move between systems, review information and execute processes manually.
That creates an opportunity to rethink the underlying architecture rather than simply automate individual tasks inside it.
Security is another major part of Maximum's pitch. As banks deploy increasingly capable AI systems, they also face increasingly capable attacks. The company says its platform includes security protocols and controls designed to address those threats while managing operational and customer risks.
What This Means for Miami
Maximum is another example of the kind of fintech infrastructure company that makes Miami's technology story more interesting than its reputation as a consumer-facing finance hub might suggest.
The company isn't building another payments app or consumer banking brand.
It is attempting to replace part of the infrastructure underneath the financial system itself, from Miami.
The $30 million seed round also gives Maximum something that many early-stage fintech companies struggle to obtain: enough capital to attack a deeply entrenched infrastructure market rather than simply build another layer on top of it.
The bigger question is whether banks will actually replace systems that have been running for decades.
If they do, Maximum isn't just building an AI product for banks.
It is trying to build the operating system that comes after legacy banking.
Reporting Source: This article builds upon reporting from Pulse 2.0 and adds analysis of what the development means for Miami and South Florida.
