Founded last year, this Dublin-based start-up wants to help SMEs understand the story behind their finances using an AI-powered service.
When it comes to AI integration, there’s plenty to talk about. At this point, artificial intelligence has made its way into nearly every sector, industry and discipline.
From automating tedious processes to supporting core business activities, this topical technology has popped up in various functions of modern society.
Banking is no exception. However, one Dublin-based start-up – and our latest Start-up of the Week – has developed an AI-powered banking service with a unique goal in mind.
Narrative Banking has developed Finley, an application that utilises open banking and generative AI (GenAI) to support small businesses with their finances.
“We’re moving beyond transactional interactions to restore the valued relationship-driven guidance once core to banking, supercharged by AI,” says co-founder and CEO Prof Michael Dowling. “Finley doesn’t just show numbers, it helps SMEs understand the story behind their finances and actively craft their next chapter of growth.”
How it started
According to Dowling, Narrative Banking’s founding team combines “deep academic insight with proven commercial execution”.
Dowling is a professor of financial technology at Dublin City University who has specific expertise in AI, while fellow co-founder Dr Yulia Plaksina has an extensive background in product leadership.
Prior to co-founding Narrative Banking in 2024, Plaksina held leadership roles at fintech Chasing Returns, which was later acquired by StoneX. She then joined StoneX as head of performance analytics, where she led the development of their first GenAI product.
“This blend of AI foresight and practical B2B fintech experience is the bedrock of Narrative Banking,” says Dowling. “We’re also incredibly lucky with the remainder of the team, which brings expertise in commercial deployment of large-scale products, on developing fundamental AI models, and designing modern applications for user engagement.”
The tech
As Dowling explains to SiliconRepublic.com, Finley works by leveraging secure open banking APIs to access and interpret transactional data from “virtually any bank account”.
“The real magic happens next,” he says. “We employ a sophisticated suite of fine-tuned and specialised generative AI models, operating within the robust security framework of Microsoft Azure.
“These models don’t just process data; they weave compelling, easy-to-understand narratives around a business’s financial activity. This transforms raw transactions into actionable insights, helping SMEs grasp their current financial position and identify clear pathways for future growth.”
The start-up’s initial focus is on the European small business banking sector, which Dowling describes as “vastly underserved”.
“We’ve seen a dramatic decline in SME borrowing across Europe – halved in Ireland alone over the last decade,” he explains. “This isn’t just about access to capital; it’s often driven by SMEs struggling to articulate a clear growth narrative amid constant economic pressures.”
Narrative Banking hopes to bridge this gap by partnering with banks to “to reignite growth ambitions within SMEs by helping them understand and communicate their financial story”.
“For banks, this unlocks significant potential, as growing businesses naturally require more financial products and services,” says Dowling.
How it’s going
Despite only being established last year, Narrative Banking has achieved some considerable milestones already. Last year, the start-up secured €600,000 in pre-seed funding through the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund, while last month it launched a funded pilot in the Irish market – a “critical validation point for Finley”, according to Dowling.
Going forward, the start-up is planning a pipeline for further pilots across Europe and is now soft-launching a €2.2m seed round, aiming for a close in Q4 of this year.
“This funding will be pivotal, allowing us to accelerate the development of Finley for personal banking, transition our SME solution from pilots to full commercial contracts, and strategically expand our core team to drive this next phase of growth,” says Dowling.
As for the ultimate goal, Dowling says that the Narrative Banking team wants to embed “powerful financial storytelling” across the entire banking landscape.
“Finley for SMEs is just the beginning,” he says. “We plan to extend this conversational AI capability to transform personal banking, wealth management, and beyond.
“We believe our unique expertise in crafting financial narratives is fundamental to building more engaging, supportive, and ultimately more effective banking relationships for everyone.”
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