Stripe co-leads $40m investment in local payments start-up Rapyd

Stripe, the online payments company founded by Patrick and John Collison, has co-led a $40 million (€35.4 million) investment in 'fintech-as-a-service' platform Rapyd.

The Irish-founded company has been joined in the funding round by one of its biggest backers, General Catalyst. Other investors include Target Global and IGNIA.

Founded in 2015, Rapyd is headquartered in the UK but is primarily based in California with the company’s R&D located in Tel Aviv.

The company operates what it claims is the world’s largest local payments network, connecting more than two billion consumers across the globe.

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Rapyd’s technology platform supports bank transfers, e-wallets, cash and other payment methods. The start-up claims to be addressing a significant and growing market opportunity as merchants find it difficult to digitally enable local payment methods and process cross-border sales which are seen as critical for companies looking to expand into other markets.

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The start-up, which only became fully operational in late 2017, has raised $60 million to date. The company said it intends to use the latest funding to expand its platform.

Stripe has become increasingly active in terms of backing other fintech companies, most notably Monzo, the UK-headquartered digital bank which last year obtained passporting permission enabling it to operate in the Republic.

The Collison company, which is valued at $22.5 billion following a recent $100 million follow-on funding round, has also acquired a number of companies, including Index, a payments firm that previously secured financial backing from former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.