London-based fintech 9fin has raised $170 million in a Series C round, pushing its valuation to $1.3 billion and officially joining the ranks of unicorn startups.

The round was led by HarbourVest, with participation from CPP Investments and existing investors including Highland Europe, Spark Capital, Redalpine, and Seedcamp. CPP’s involvement is notable, not just as a backer but as an existing customer, underscoring growing institutional demand for 9fin’s platform.

The investment will enable the company to deepen its focus across two key areas.

First, it is embedding AI directly into core credit workflows, not as an added layer, but as a fundamental part of how analysis is conducted. The opportunity goes beyond improving speed, it is about reshaping how these processes work at a foundational level.

Second, the company is expanding the proprietary data that underpins its platform. In credit markets, differentiated data compounds over time, and its goal is to build a dataset that becomes more valuable with each interaction, creating a long-term advantage that is difficult to replicate.

Steven Hunter, CEO and cofounder of 9fin said: “Across the market, we hear the same need: a single, real-time view of credit — across geographies, products, and market conditions. That’s what we’re building.”

Founded in 2016, 9fin is building an AI-powered data and analytics platform for debt capital markets, a sector long defined by fragmented information and manual workflows. The company aggregates data from sources like PDFs, legal documents, and emails, then uses machine learning to structure that information into real-time insights for credit professionals.

The company says it now serves more than 300 institutions and has seen multiple years of triple-digit revenue growth. Its US expansion has also picked up pace, with the region emerging as a key growth driver.