Ant’s $1.2 Billion Series AThe financing supports expansion of its global payments and financial services business and positions the Alibaba-backed fintech unit for a potential future IPO. Parafin’s $300M forward-flow funding agreementParafin recently surpassed 50,000 funded businesses and inked partnerships with Goldman Sachs, EverBank, First Citizens, and Cross River. Additional investors include Soma Capital, Road Capital Management, CMT Digital, Brevan Howard Digital, and Variant. Cisco joins Zafran $130M roundCisco Investments joins existing investors including Sequoia Capital, Cyberstarts, Menlo Ventures, PSP Growth, Vintage Investment Partners, and Amex Ventures. Ripple invests in NotabeneNotabene and Ripple will collaborate to expand enterprise stablecoin payments by integrating Ripple USD (RLUSD) into Notabene Flow and exploring how trusted payment authorization can complement Ripple Payments.