Marqeta, an open-API card issuing platform, has raised USD45 million in new funding in a round led by ICONIQ Capital, with participation from Goldman Sachs and existing investors, bringing the firm’s total funding to USD116 million.
“Marqeta is the clear market leader in modern card issuing, and we’re thrilled to be part of their already phenomenal growth story,” says Will Griffith, partner at ICONIQ Capital. “They have the most advanced card issuing technology in the category, and they have assembled an extraordinary team of industry leaders.”
Marqeta will leverage the investment, along with the USD25 million it took in from a strategic round in June 2017, led by Visa, to extend its leadership in innovative consumer and commercial card solutions, and to accelerate its domestic and international growth. Marqeta already powers card programs for industry leaders such as Instacart, Square, Affirm, Kabbage, Alipay and several others.
“We’re excited to bring aboard ICONIQ Capital and Goldman Sachs, who deeply understand innovation in financial technology and payments,” says Marqeta founder and CEO Jason Gardner. “We look forward to their contributions to Marqeta as we continue to scale operations and expand our footprint around the world.”
Marqeta built the first developer-friendly card issuing and core processing platform in the past two decades: an end-to-end, cloud-based system powering physical, virtual and tokenised cards, built from the ground up with developers and technology-driven businesses in mind.
The investment follows a year of strong growth for Marqeta, during which it formed a global strategic partnership with Visa, launched its international effort and more than doubled the size of its team.
Marqeta also announced several new products in 2017 including the Marqeta Digital Wallet SDK for Apple Pay and Google Pay, Marqeta.js, and Marqeta’s Virtual Card Wizard. Using this technology, businesses can now easily and efficiently build customised, PCI-compliant card experiences that have not been possible on legacy platforms.
“We’re consistently delivering new products to market and powering today’s most innovative companies, driving significant growth in payment volume and greater operational efficiency with each passing month,” adds Gardner. “We’re just getting started.”
Financial Technology Partners (FT Partners) served as Marqeta’s strategic and financial advisor on this transaction and acted as the placement agent for the funding from ICONIQ Capital.
