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🧭 The Pre-Seed Biotech Vendor Shortlist

What I've seen work for biotech founders, what to watch for, and when to switch.

Overview: Each category names a few vendors I'd genuinely consider for a pre-seed or seed-stage life science company in 2026, with one-line takes on what they're good at and one note on when to upgrade or switch. This is a living document and is updated on an ongoing basis - your feedback is welcome.

Reading guide: The directory below is organized around three universal pillars: Money (cash in and out), People (HR, payroll, equity), and Compliance & Infrastructure (entity, legal, IT), plus a wet-lab overlay for biotech founders running physical experiments. The visual belowshows when each category typically gets set up across the first 90 days.

Pillar 1: Money in/out (Finance & Tax)

Banking

Optimize for: speed of account opening, FDIC coverage above $250K, integrations with bookkeeping, and not getting caught in another SVB-style event.

• Mercury - The default pick for most pre-seed and seed startups. Free tier is fully functional, account opens in days, $5M FDIC coverage via partner banks. Treasury option for idle cash. ~40% of new YC startups choose it.
• Brex - Started as the corporate card, now a full banking + spend management platform. $6M FDIC via 20+ partner banks. Stronger if you want corporate cards with high limits and AI-powered expense automation built in. May be overkill for a 3-person team.
• Rho - Newer entrant gaining ground in 2026. No platform fees at any headcount, full stack (banking + bill pay + invoicing + expense + treasury) in one place, up to $75M FDIC coverage via Webster. Worth a look if you want everything bundled.
• First Citizens (formerly SVB) - After absorbing SVB in 2023, this unit is being rebranded as "First Citizens Innovation Banking."

When to switch: Most pre-seed companies stay on their initial fintech (Mercury or Brex) through Series A. Add a second account at a chartered bank (First Citizens, BoFA, Chase, JPM) once you're holding 6+ months of operating runway, as a redundancy measure. Add a treasury layer (Mercury Treasury, Brex Vault) once idle cash exceeds ~$2M.

Bookkeeping & accounting

Optimize for: monthly close discipline, biotech/R&D fluency, and someone who can grow with you into a fractional CFO when you're ready.