A Fintech as a service Rapyd network, that allows consumers and businesses to transact however they opt for cross-border and local eCommerce transactions, raised a whopping $100M financing round spearheaded by Oak HC/FT together with Stripe.
Rapyd, Stripe-backed digital payments company based in London, raised $100 million in funding at a valuation nearing $1 billion, bringing the company’s total capital gain to over $150 million. This successful raise was led by Oak HC/FT and it comes just a few months after a series B 40 million raise and saw contribution from Entrée Capital, Target Global, Stripe, General Catalyst, Coatue, and Tiger Global.
Arik Shtilman, Rapyd CEO and co-founder said the financial infusion will fasten the design of Rapyd’s platform as well as its cloud-based financial services tools. He indicated that so far cross-border and local businesses that depend on Rapyd’s local payment processing are accessible to over four billion users.
“Global commerce is at a critical inflection point as businesses are pressed to launch new applications, process and accept local payment methods, disburse funds, and manage risk and compliance so they can offer highly localized customer experiences without having to build their own infrastructure.”
He also goes ahead to indicate that:
“The expectation today is that this must happen around the world to drive growth into new markets. As more than half of all transactions worldwide are facilitated via bank transfers and cash, merchants find it increasingly difficult to digitally enable local payment methods and process cross-border sales that are required for international expansion.”
For lack of experience, Rapyd’s fintech-as-a-service suite offers several mobiles and web capabilities to users worldwide, as well as the ability to accept local debit cards, e-wallets, bank transfers, cash and over other 500 extra payment techniques in nearly 150 countries. It also assists payments in more than 170 nations and multicurrency settlement to one document across 65 currencies in addition to anti-money laundering, ID verification through document scanning, real-time foreign exchange and counter financing terrorism (AML/CFT) services.
Rapyd provides an API and software development kit that links with available apps, furnished with responsive buildout for trader checkout flows. The checkout solution can either stand-alone or coexist with gateways including local payment platforms, while its white-label digital wallet network ships with features targeting reward programs and retail shops.
A London based company competes with several well-established firms in a financial tech sector projected at $147.37 billion as of last year, including Paypal, and Ayden. But while it isn’t revealing its users just yet, Rapyd indicated it counts 50 businesses among its users base in segments such as on-demand gig marketplaces and eCommerce. Furthermore, it predicts revenue will attain “tens of millions” this year, triggered by the fees it levies on multicurrency transactions and payments.
In a statement, Tiger Global Management partner Scott Shleifer said:
“We are excited to become investors in Rapyd and believe the Company is enabling global internet companies to improve their ability to accept local payments in emerging markets, we are impressed with Arik and his team and the differentiated platform Rapyd has built.”
Tricia Kemp, Oak HC/FT cofounder and managing partner indicated:
“As financial services become increasingly digitized and global, Rapyd’s fintech-as-a-service approach has tremendous growth potential. We’re thrilled to back and partner with the Rapyd team as they tackle one of the biggest challenges in financial services by helping businesses navigate the complexity of local and cross-border digital payments.”
