Heka Raises $16M to Open Source Finance Data for Global Financial Institutions

On this episode of The SaaS CFO Podcast, host Ben Murray sits down with Idan Bar-Dov, co-founder and CEO of Heka. Idan shares his unique journey from working in finance and law—starting out at an international law firm advising fintech companies—through the challenges of founding a startup during the pandemic, to leading a fast-growing SaaS company transforming how financial institutions use open source data.

Together, they dive into Heka’s evolution from its early focus on reconnecting consumers with their assets amid widespread data gaps, to becoming a global platform that provides advanced fraud detection, contact recovery, and enriched credit decisioning for major banks, fintechs, payment processors, and alternative lenders. Idan also opens up about the company's fundraising milestones, lessons learned from raising $16 million to date, building credibility with Fortune 500 clients, and the importance of sticky revenue metrics as the business scales.

Tune in to hear more about Heka’s mission to become the gold standard in consumer data, outpacing industry giants, and what’s next for their growing team headquartered in New York and Israel. Plus, Idan shares practical advice for founders tackling enterprise sales, go-to-market strategy, and fundraising in the financial technology space.

Show Notes:

00:00 Fintech Pivot During COVID Lockdown

04:15 Global Financial Reconnection Solutions

07:20 Insightful Investors Drive Series A

11:59 Navigating Investment Deals Efficiently

14:42 Investors Drive Financial Innovation

18:48 "Metrics for Growth: Revenue & NRR"

20:49 "Conquer Fortune 500 Market"

Links:

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/heka-raises-14-million-in-series-a

Idan Bar-Dov's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/idan-bar-dov/

Heka Global’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/heka-global/