This article appears in Finance Magnates and runs through the latest funding round for the 2012 London-based startup Currencycloud that provides a platform for building cross-border payments solutions via APIs. While there is no specific distribution of the $80 million total funding, the article highlights Visa’s participation, which comes after its recently announced Plaid acquisition.
According to one source, this brings the total Currencycloud funding to about $160 million. The space in which it operates contains rivals such as Adyen and Transferwise.
“Currencycloud is re-imagining how money flows around the global economy and embedding it into platforms of the future,” Laven said in an official announcement…“Transfer of value is fast becoming the newest layer in the modern technology stack, and Currencycloud is positioned to provide the infrastructure to make this happen. With these new strategic investors, we are well placed to be the go-to provider for the next wave of Fintech innovation.”
The move appears to be a way for Visa to stay close to the embedded finance trends as it expands its global touchpoints for network ubiquity. The piece also points out that Visa provides Currencycloud product access to its clients, which are typically financial institutions.
Currencycloud primarily operates in Europe, but this indicates that the capital infusion will be directed towards product developing and expansion in North America and Asia. So the beat goes on.
“We’re probably the most important business that you’ve never heard of,” he said. “But that’s conscientious on our part,’ he said. “We do not have a strategy where we compete with our customers.” Instead, Laven clarified to TechCrunch, “My brand is invisible. We think we’re still the only one that has that kind of solution.”..Indeed, the company, which is headquartered in London, sells payment software for companies that are seeking to process transactions internationally; Currencycloud offers 85 APIs that cover everything from foreign exchange to inbound money collection and multi-currency digital wallet services. Laven told TechCrunch that as of the end of 2019, roughly 350 companies were using the APIs.
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group