Fintech Blueprint 🤖🏦🧭

Lex interviews Sankaet Pathak, the former CEO and founder of Synapse, and CEO and current founder of Foundation. We discuss what happened at Synapse, the issues around its bank partner Evolve and others, and the overall lessons from the BaaS space.

We recommend you read the fill transcript below as it will be a learning opportunity for the entire industry. We welcome feedback and comments on what is likely to be an eye-opening conversation. Our goal was to highlight the relevant issues for all to see and avoid similar contagion in the future. We appreciate Sankaet’s willingness to share his perspective.

Sankaet is a technologist and entrepreneur with an academic background from the University of Memphis, where he earned degrees in Computer Engineering, Mathematical Sciences, and Physics. Early in his career, he worked as a research assistant, co-authoring over 25 papers on topics including the coronal loop controversy in physics. He also held roles as a tutor and student assistant, where he provided instruction in circuits, chemistry, astrophysics, and various programming languages such as Java, C++, and C.

Pathak went on to found Synapse, a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform that aimed to facilitate the connection between nonbank companies and licensed banks to provide financial services. Synapse offered products such as deposit and credit solutions through a native processor. Despite raising over $50 million in funding, the company encountered significant issues related to regulatory challenges and disputes with its banking partners. These difficulties culminated in Synapse filing for bankruptcy in 2024, with nearly $160 million of customer funds inaccessible. Pathak attributed these problems to Synapse's banking partners, though others pointed to systemic issues in the BaaS business model itself​.

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