Stax, a comprehensive payments platform, announced its new funding raise of $245 million. Led by sibling co-founders Suneera Madhani, CEO, and Sal Rehmetullah, president, Stax celebrates this milestone at a time when “less than three percent of venture capital goes to minorities and less than one percent of venture capital goes to businesses with women of color CEOs.”
Madhani stated:
“As a minority woman and executive in fintech, I’m no stranger to discrimination and doubt. My brother and I built this company from our parents’ home back in 2014. Since then, we’ve grown 500% in the past three years and processed more than $23 billion in payments for 22,000 businesses nationwide. We share this milestone not just with our team, but every person of color trying to hustle, build their own business and make history.”
Stax’s investment round and unicorn status “represents a major step forward for minority-led companies looking to make their mark.” The payments platform will use the proceeds “to expand product capabilities, enhance its customer offerings, grow its team and expand internationally.”
Rehmetullah added:
“At Stax, we help businesses grow and scale, all while having the flexibility to adapt their payment technologies to meet their customer needs. With our new capital and unicorn status, we can ensure our customers have all the tools they need to process and manage their payments. Businesses are just starting to realize how powerful payments can be in scaling their organization, and we’re here to ensure that process goes as smoothly as possible.”
Investors include Greater Sum Ventures (GSV), HarbourVest Partners, and Blue Star Innovation Partners, “all of which have long invested in the payments industry and will serve as strategic partners to Stax.”
Rob Wechsler, founder and CEO of Blue Star, will “join Stax’s board of directors.” After completing a secondary round, Stax “raised an additional primary round of capital to reach the $1 billion valuation.”
Wechsler noted:
“Stax is a rapidly-growing company that is changing the way businesses conduct and scale their payments, which is why we chose to invest in them. The COVID-19 pandemic escalated the need for dynamic, flexible and digital payment options all the way from small businesses to enterprise organizations and the software vendors that serve them. Fintech is rapidly evolving, and Stax is adapting just as quickly, ensuring their customers can do the same.”
This announcement comes after a solid year of growth for Stax, “having just acquired automated surcharging platform CardX this past November.”
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