Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) has announced its first venture investment after becoming a publicly-traded company. Marqeta has led a $20 million Series B funding round into payments gateway ConnexPay.
ConnexPay, a customer of Marqeta’s since 2018, offers a combined merchant acquiring and virtual card issuing solution for mid-sized companies. The company’s technology is said to simplify an antiquated workflow.
Renata Caine, SVP, International, Strategy & Planning at Marqeta, says that ConnexPay’s platform is a solution for complex marketplaces and intermediary business models:
“We see a lot of possibilities around the optionality their platform provides for payment acceptance, delivery and timing, offering innovators the ultimate control over funds across multiple money movement rails. ConnexPay’s ability to withstand the demands of COVID-19 in the travel vertical while growing and expanding their business to new verticals is a testament to their team and technology and we’re excited for what’s in front of this company.”
Founded in 2017, ConnexPay was originally built for the travel sector before expanding its business into adjacent verticals like e-commerce, and commerce intermediaries. ConnexPay forecasts 5x growth in revenue in 2022.
ConnexPay claims to be the first company to seamlessly connect both sides of the payment ecosystem. While other companies facilitate issuing and acquiring, these typically require negotiating multiple contracts, account teams, and technology integrations. ConnexPay says it requires just one integration point.
ConnexPay plans to use the funding to build out its business with online marketplaces and other commerce intermediaries. Additionally, the funding will be used to expand the ConnexPay platform into Europe.
“ConnexPay was founded to transform the entire payments experience for the travel industry. We quickly discovered that the value of the connected ecosystem – which offers controls that resulted in reduced risk, improved cash flow, lowered the cost of accepting cards and allowed for easier reconciliation – had much broader application across many vertical markets,” said Robert Kaufman, Founder and CEO, ConnexPay. “We’ve worked with Marqeta as a customer since 2018 and we know the value and payments expertise they bring to the table, so we’re excited about this new investment and what we can accomplish with them in our corner.”