Immad Akhund

Immad Akhund is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Mercury, a digital banking platform designed for startups. Akhund holds a Master of Arts in computer science from the University of Cambridge. Early in his career, he worked as a financial software developer at Bloomberg and as a software developer at Aquila, gaining experience in both technology and the financial industry. Before founding Mercury, Akhund spent nearly two decades launching companies, developing an understanding of what distinguishes a viable business from a simple idea.

Akhund's entrepreneurial journey began with Clickpass, an OpenID provider he co-founded and developed through Y Combinator. Clickpass was acquired by Yola, after which Akhund co-founded Heyzap with Jude Gomila. Heyzap, a company focused on social gaming and mobile developer tools, secured funding from Y Combinator and Union Square Ventures. Heyzap was later acquired by Fyber for $45 million. Following this exit, Akhund served as a part-time partner with Y Combinator before launching Mercury.

Akhund started Mercury after encountering challenges with traditional banking while managing his previous companies. Mercury was developed as a unified banking platform, integrating accounts, cards, bill pay, invoicing, spend management, and financial intelligence. During the planning stages, Akhund conducted approximately 90 interviews with fintech experts, investors, lawyers, and bankers to address regulatory and compliance requirements. Mercury now serves a significant portion of U.S. startups, supporting more than 300,000 entrepreneurs, generating $650 million in annualized revenue, and maintaining GAAP profitability for more than three years.

Mercury has raised a $200 million Series D at a $5.2 billion valuation, with investment from TCV, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz. In addition to building Mercury, Akhund is an active early-stage investor, with more than 350 investments in companies such as Rippling and Airtable. He also launched Mercury Raise, a platform that connects early-stage startups with investors. Akhund frequently speaks on topics related to entrepreneurship, fintech, and startup growth, sharing insights from his experience building, selling, and scaling companies.