Q3’s biggest global payments funding and market listings
Q3 2021 has ended, and despite the usual dip in activity over the summer, this has been a very active quarter in terms of funding rounds and public market debuts for global payments.
Notably, the UK is over-represented, with Revolut, Rapyd and Zepz, formerly WorldRemit, all announcing nine-figure raises that saw their overall valuations climb significantly. Revolut, for example, has seen a remarkable jump since early 2020, when it was valued at $5.5bn – in part from its efforts in the cryptocurrency space.
Elsewhere Nigeria’s OPay reflects increasing investment attention on African fintechs, with the mobile payments platform having recently expanded to Egypt, while Thailand’s Ascend Money similarly reflects growing interest in Southeast Asia.
On the public market entry side, while this quarter hasn’t quite matched the bumper crop of listings we saw in Q2, it’s still been a strong period for cross-border payments.
While Wise and Remitly both completed their entries, Paytm, Circle and Nubank all made their own announcements. Digital currency provider Circle continues the SPAC trend and while money transfer major Wise saw the largest direct listing in UK history, the rest are taking the traditional IPO approach.
Some of the numbers will be record breaking. Digital payments platform Paytm is expected to have one of India’s largest IPOs in the country’s history. In Latam, Brazilian digital banking platform Nubank is projected to see a valuation higher than any of the country’s established banks.
On the horizon is payments processor Stripe. It is rumoured to be considering either a direct listing or IPO in early 2022. That market entry will likely break all records to date.
Stay ahead of the sector – sign up to our newsletter
