Here’s a bold statement: the future of fintech isn’t just about money—it’s about speed, efficiency, and the power of artificial intelligence. But here’s where it gets controversial: even companies not strictly in the AI space are now leveraging it to dominate their industries. Case in point? Fintech decacorn Ramp has just acquired Jolt AI, a tiny three-person startup, not for its product, but for its team’s expertise in making engineers ‘build faster.’ And this is the part most people miss: this acquisition is a microcosm of a larger trend—startups buying startups to turbocharge their growth, especially in AI-driven fields.
Ramp, the New York-based expense management giant, is no stranger to rapid growth. Valued at a staggering $22.5 billion in 2025, up from $13 billion just months earlier, the company has also seen its annualized revenue soar to $1 billion. Here’s the kicker: Ramp claims its customers can now achieve 3x more than they could two years ago, thanks in part to AI. But they’re not stopping there—they’re aiming for a 30x increase in the next two years. How? By doubling down on AI and hiring top-tier engineering talent, like the team from Jolt AI.
Jolt AI, founded in 2022, initially focused on load-testing platforms before pivoting in 2024 to develop an AI coding assistant for large-scale production code. With nearly $2.5 million in funding from investors like Alumni Ventures and 8-Bit Capital, the startup caught Ramp’s eye for its singular focus on boosting developer productivity. Here’s the controversial part: is acquiring a team without their product a smart move, or just a flashy acqui-hire? Ramp’s co-founder and CTO, Karim Atiyeh, argues it’s the former. ‘Jolt’s team has spent years solving some of the hardest problems in developer productivity,’ he says. ‘They’re now bringing that expertise to Ramp’s developer tools and beyond.’
This acquisition isn’t an isolated incident. In the first three quarters of 2025, there were 647 reported M&A deals where startups bought other startups—a 20% increase from the previous year. Why the surge? Experts like Lindsey S. Mignano of SSM Law point to a rush to market, especially in competitive fields like AI. But here’s a thought-provoking question: Are these acquisitions truly strategic, or just a way for larger companies to poach talent under the guise of innovation?
Ramp’s track record suggests the former. In 2023, they acquired Cohere to enhance AI-powered customer support, and in 2024, they bought Venue to automate procurement workflows. With Jolt AI’s team now on board, Ramp is strengthening its core AI platform, supercharging its developer experience, and transforming product tooling with applied AI. The trio—Yev Spektor, Jon Reynolds, and Carlos Kelly—will integrate into Ramp’s engineering platform team, focusing on making engineers ‘as fast and effective as possible.’
Here’s where it gets even more interesting: Ramp isn’t just using AI internally; they’re also developing AI-driven products for their 45,000+ customers, including big names like Shopify, Stripe, and Glossier. Spektor admits he didn’t expect Jolt to be acquired by a company like Ramp, but he’s ‘extremely happy’ with the outcome. ‘Our whole goal is to make sure engineers are as fast and effective as possible,’ he says. ‘And on the customer-facing side, we’re bringing AI agents and features to financial workflows.’
So, what’s the bottom line? According to Atiyeh, AI is fundamentally changing how Ramp uses and builds software. ‘With the Jolt team on board, we’re doubling down on both fronts,’ he writes. But as Ramp continues to dominate the corporate card and expense management space—and now encroaches into digital banking—one has to wonder: Is this the future of fintech, or just a temporary trend? What do you think? Let’s debate in the comments!
