9fin raises $170M at $1.3B valuation to bring AI to $145T global debt markets

Debt markets move trillions every day, yet much of the work still runs on scattered documents, inbox threads, and spreadsheets. That gap has created an opening—and 9fin just raised fresh capital to go after it.

The London- and New York-based AI startup announced a $170 million Series C round at a $1.3 billion valuation, led by HarbourVest. The round drew backing from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), along with existing investors Redalpine, Highland Europe, Spark Capital, and Seedcamp. With this raise, 9fin’s total funding now tops $250 million.

The pitch is simple. Debt markets represent the largest asset class on the planet, estimated at $145 trillion. Yet the data behind those markets remains fragmented and hard to access. Critical information sits buried in PDFs, data rooms, and internal emails, slowing down decision-making for credit analysts, bankers, and investors.

AI startup 9fin raises $170M as demand surges for smarter credit market data

9fin’s platform pulls that data into one place and layers AI on top of it. The goal is to help professionals spot opportunities, assess risk, and move faster without spending hours digging through documents. More than 300 firms—including banks, asset managers, law firms, and advisory groups—use the platform, collectively managing over $17 trillion in assets.

That traction is starting to show up in the numbers. The company says it has delivered multiple consecutive years of 100% annual recurring revenue growth, along with strong customer retention. Its U.S. business has grown at an even faster clip, a key focus area for this new round.

CPP Investments’ involvement stands out. The firm was already a customer before joining the cap table, a signal that the product has moved beyond early adoption into daily workflow for large institutions.

HarbourVest sees a broader shift underway. “Debt markets are undergoing a profound transformation as AI reshapes how financial professionals work,” said Michael Guiness, Principal at HarbourVest Partners. “9fin has built a powerful platform combining proprietary data with AI-driven workflows – exactly what we’re looking for in next-generation market leaders. We’re excited to support the company as it scales globally.”

At the center of 9fin’s strategy is one belief: AI only works when it runs on the right data. Generic models won’t cut it in credit markets, where small details can drive billion-dollar decisions. The company has focused on building its own dataset, drawn from primary sources across loans, bonds, and private credit.

CEO and co-founder Steven Hunter framed it in practical terms. “AI will redefine the credit markets, but only if it’s powered by proprietary data and embedded into how professionals actually work. That’s exactly what we’ve built at 9fin. We’ve scaled our product rapidly across geographies and asset classes to provide clients with unmatched breadth and depth of data in an AI-native platform. Our ultimate goal is to be the only platform credit professionals ever need. This capital gets us there even faster.”

The timing lines up with a shift across finance. Loan, bond, and private credit markets are converging, pushing firms to rely on faster and more accurate information. Firms that can process data more quickly win mandates and stay ahead of competitors.

9fin’s bet is that the next generation of financial infrastructure won’t look like legacy terminals or static databases. It will look like a live system—one that reads, organizes, and interprets data in real time.

For a market this large, even small efficiency gains carry an outsized impact. That’s what investors are betting on here.