Plenty of businesses are turning toward fintech startups to help them turn bigger profits. And while these fintech startups may sometimes seem like niche middlemen, they can represent a pressing need in the market.
For example, take Marqeta, an Oakland-based company that has created a card-issuing platform to help businesses process transactions. On Thursday, the company announced that it raised $150 million in funding, and reached a valuation of $4.3 billion.
According to the company, card issuing is a multi-trillion dollar global industry. By partnering with banks and card networks, Marqeta can provide businesses with a scalable payment solution. For example, online food ordering service DoorDash uses Marqeta for its Red Card debit cards, which DoorDash “dashers” use to pay for food that is later delivered to customers. Other companies that use Marqeta include Square, Affirm and Instacart.
By the end of 2019, Marqeta had issued over 140 million cards to its customers.
“The transformative possibilities of modern card issuing are more commonplace than ever for the everyday consumer in 2020. Marqeta has a deep commitment to powering the innovators driving these shifts in the market and is well-positioned to support the current surge in demand for digital payments following COVID-19 lockdowns,” founder and CEO Jason Gardner said in a statement. “We see Marqeta becoming an indispensable part of the global payments infrastructure, and we’re in a solid position to realize that vision for our company.”
The 10-year-old company has already reached a significant size. It employs over 425 people and operates across the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. This new funding will help the company as it continues to expand internationally, as well as build more products.
The company also said earlier in the month that it’s looking to boost its headcount by 20 percent.
