At a time when business continuity is top-of-mind for most leaders and valuations are constantly on the downfall, global card issuing platform Marqeta announced that it has raised an additional $150 million in new capital. FT Partners, a Fintech-focused investment bank is said to have advised Marqeta on the $150 million funding round.
CEO Jason Gardner was quoted as saying that the company will use this funding to expand into new markets.
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The young company now boasts of a USD 4.3 Billion valuation, the latest round follows their $260 million equity financing in May 2019.
Marqeta is backed by leading finance and fintech institutions – Visa, Goldman Sachs, 83North, Granite Ventures, and ICONIQ Capital.
At a time when the world economy is struggling through a global pandemic that has also impacted the finance sector, only a handful has seen consistent growth over the last few months. Payments leader Stripe grew from $35 billion in September 2019 to $36 billion in April 2020 while Credit card start-up Brex also witnessed only a marginal rise from its previous $2.6 billion valuation.
Marqeta’s innovative technology gives more control to administrators and helps prevent fraud to companies that issue payment/debit cards to workers and customers. Their technology helps restrict which products delivery teams from within a company can buy, for example, if they are issued cards.
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CEO Jason Gardner has been quoted as saying that the company has grown faster than projected even in light of the coronavirus situation.
Marqeta’s revenue exceeded $300 million back in 2019, doubling its 2018 figure.
Marqeta’s success can be attributed to a “being in the right place at the right time” situation, as more fintech companies introduce new innovations in digital banking and payments, a common observation lies in how most crave a credit / debit payment facility that is based on the card concept. Marqeta serves this precise need by offering tools for financial services and institutions to provide cards, digital wallets or other payment models to end users. Some of Marqeta’s current customers include Uber, Affirm, Instacart, DoorDash.
In the fintech realm, investors have shown demand and interest in payments companies. As transactions move digital and the need for safer, contactless and cross-border transfers increase, there is ample opportunity for invention and growth in this segment. Visa’s $ 5.3 Billion acquisition of Plaid earlier this year and SoFi’s $1.2 Billion acquisition of Galileo are evidence of this. The rising importance and popularity of payment platforms like PayPal and Bill.com during the spread of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic are again testimonial to the need and demand for newer innovations in seamless payment technologies.
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Marqeta’s new valuation lifts CEO Gardner’s personal net worth to exceed $400 million, according to a Forbes estimation.
While Marqeta is all set to become an integral part of the global payments infrastructure, the company is also well-positioned to support the spurt of growth in digital payments because of the worldwide lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A few other notable fintech start-ups with high valuations include Ripple ($ 10 Billion valuation as of December 2019), Coinbase ($8 Billion valuation as of 2017), Robinhood, ($ 8.3 Billion valuation as of 2017), Revolut ($ 5.5 Billion valuation as of 2018), Chime ($ 5.8 Billion valuation as of 2019), Klarna ($ 5.5 Billion valuation as of 2011) among several others like TransferWise, N26, Root Insurance.
