By Karim Gillani, October 24, 2025
At Luge, we invest in the foundational infrastructure that powers the future of financial services. For payments, that future is being redefined by stablecoins, the programmable, always-on money that moves instantly, domestically and across borders. And Cybrid is leading the effort to bring stablecoin payments to banks, fintechs, remittance companies and businesses, so that money movement is instant, cheap, and available anywhere at anytime, by default.
Yesterday, Cybrid announced their $10 million Series A to expand its stablecoin and fiat payment rails for financial institutions. We’re proud to be part of this round alongside the Growth Venture Fund from BDC Capital, Golden Ventures, and Panache Ventures.
The problem: Fragmented rails, legacy friction
Global cross-border payments reached $1 quadrillion (15 zeros!) in 2024. Yet, money still moves over decades-old rails, slowly, costly, and often through closed systems that don’t talk to each other. Each country has their own local payment systems: PIX in Brazil, UPI in India, Faster Payments in the UK, Interac in Canada, FedNow in the US. The problem is that there is no universal “money language” that connects these systems to work together. Each country is an island.
Cybrid solves these pain points with a unified, API-driven platform that lets banks, fintechs, and cross-border payment providers connect traditional fiat systems with modern stablecoin networks. Cybrid’s tech abstracts the complexity of blockchain integration, compliance, and risk management so that regulated institutions can safely build their own payments experience on top. Click, send! Simple as that.
Modern infrastructure for financial institutions and payments companies
Cybrid’s platform enables clients to route payments over either fiat or stablecoin rails, automatically optimizing for cost, speed, and settlement efficiency. Beyond payments, the platform includes integrated KYC, AML, and sanctions screening, automated audit trails, and robust data transparency.
What makes Cybrid exceptional isn’t just the breadth of its integrations or the sophistication of its infrastructure; it’s the philosophy behind it. The heart and soul of the company is built on navigating the messy complexities of payments and abstracting them away for their customers, so the end result is elegant simplicity for those that build on Cybrid’s APIs.
“Our focus is on building software and infrastructure that lets you enable your customers to transact safely, compliantly, and efficiently.” Avinash Chidambaram, CEO, Cybrid
A world-class founding team
Cybrid is led by Avinash Chidambaram (CEO), Brent Carrara (CTO), and Dean Brauer (President & COO), a team that blends deep experience in financial infrastructure, security, and global payments.
- Avinash led product and platform development at Interac, where he helped launch Apple Pay in Canada and modernized one of the country’s most trusted payment networks.
- Brent, a former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) engineer, brings world-class expertise in cybersecurity and systems architecture.
- Dean previously co-founded GoHenry, a pioneering fintech for youth financial education that scaled internationally before being acquired by Acorns.
This is a team that understands regulated infrastructure, security, and the realities of building trusted financial technology from the ground up.
Why we invested
Stablecoin infrastructure will become a core layer of the global financial system, enabling instant settlement, programmable money movement, and new forms of financial access. But for that future to be realized, we need companies that can bridge the trust gap between traditional finance and digital assets.
Cybrid is doing exactly that.
Their architecture aligns with how banks operate, emphasizing compliance, transparency, and reliability, while delivering the flexibility and speed that digital assets make possible.
This investment fits squarely within our thesis at Luge: backing exceptional founders who are building the rails, intelligence, and trust layers for the next generation of financial infrastructure.
Looking ahead
As more financial institutions look to move funds over stablecoin rails, Cybrid is the platform of choice. They enable FIs to embrace new technologies without abandoning the safeguards of the old.
We’re thrilled to partner with Avinash, Brent, Dean, and the Cybrid team as they continue to power the evolution of global payments.
If you’re building in fintech at the early-stage, we’d love to hear from you! You can contact us here.