Onyx Private closed its YC-backed Gen Z bank and pivoted to white-label banking tech

Onyx Private was a Miami-based digital bank offering banking and investment services for high-earning Millennials and Gen Zers.

$4.1M raised in May 2023 from Village Global, Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, One Way Ventures, 186 Ventures and Olive Tree Capital

Onyx Private launched as a YC-backed digital bank for affluent young consumers, banking through a partnership with Piermont Bank, and positioned itself as the next generation UBS.

By May 2023 it claimed 30% month-over-month growth and was processing over $4M in transaction payment value per month, nearing $5M TPV. It transitioned its banking partner from Piermont to i3 Bank. On March 13, 2024 it emailed customers that all accounts would close, with the shutdown completing April 14 and the rewards program ended immediately. Y Combinator listed the company as inactive before updating the listing.

Co-founder and CEO Victor Santos told TechCrunch the company was not shutting down but moving away from B2C to a white-label platform-as-a-service for community banks, regional banks and credit unions, saying it had explored the idea for a year and made developments with some partners. A source told TechCrunch regulatory issues may have played a part; Santos denied it.

Closing all consumer accounts ten months after a $4.1M raise is a decisive end to the original direct-to-consumer bet.

The pivot target — white-label infrastructure for small financial institutions — is a different business selling to different buyers.

Contradictory signals (YC listing the company inactive while the CEO insisted it was pivoting) and an undisclosed customer count made the turnaround claim hard to verify.

A consumer fintech that cannot say how many customers it has is already signalling the end: when growth metrics stop being shared, the pivot story arrives with the closure email.

As of March 18, 2024, consumer accounts were closing with full shutdown on April 14; Santos said Onyx had been developing its B2B white-label model with some partners over the past year. Piermont Bank, its partner at the time of the fundraise, declined to comment; its website then named i3 Bank as the banking services provider.