Rapyd, a London-based ‘fintech-as-a-service’ platform, has entered today into a definitive agreement with Arion Banki (Arion Bank) to acquire Valitor for $100M (approx €84.5M).
Headquartered in Hafnarfjörður, Valitor is an online and e-commerce payment solutions company. The company is also known for card-issuing to SMB merchants in Iceland, Ireland, the UK, and Europe.
Last year, the company acquired another Iceland-based company Korta, a payment card service provider.
Why this acquisition?
With this acquisition, the UK company will streamline the integration of omnichannel payments, reduce FX fees, and tap into revenue and growth potential that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Further, the acquisition will accelerate Rapyd’s European expansion as well.
Rapyd says it is actively pursuing acquisition opportunities, targeting strong payments companies following the recent funding round. It’s worth mentioning that Rapyd raised $300M (approx €253M) in Series D funding in January.
“Businesses are looking beyond their borders to scale up and expand their customer base, and they need the right payment providers that can make it happen quickly. With the acquisition of Valitor, customers across Europe will now have access to a greater and more diverse set of payment offerings, ensuring that more companies can take advantage of any opportunity they wish to pursue,” saya Arik Shtilman, Rapyd co-founder and CEO.
“Iceland has long distinguished itself as a cashless nation and an innovation hub, with extraordinary levels of talent and a developed payments ecosystem. We plan to continue to grow and invest in Iceland, making it our European Hub, and will support local merchants while increasing our reach across Europe so that we can provide payment solutions to any business committed to pursuing global success,” he adds.
Simplifying local payments method
Founded by Arik Shtilman, Arkady Karpman, and Omer Priel in 2016, Rapyd’s platform embeds fintech services into any application and simplifies the complexity of offering local payment methods through an easy-to-use API.
The company has also built Rapyd Global Payments Network that lets businesses access the world’s largest local payment network with over 900 locally preferred payment methods including, bank transfers, e-wallets, and cash in more than 100 countries.
Rapyd Ventures
Last month, the company also launched Rapyd Ventures, a new venture arm to focus on investing in early and growth-stage businesses that are delivering the next wave of financial services innovation.
The company’s venture arm will work with startups after their Seed round and through Series B funding that have unique market and customer insights and are expanding on existing market traction.
Raised €397M
To date, Rapyd has raised around $470M (approx €397M) in funding from various investors including, Stripe, General Catalyst, Oak HC/FT, Tiger Global, Durable Capital, Target Global, and Tal Capital. Rapyd continues to focus on core markets that serve B2C and B2B eCommerce payments, marketplace, and financial services businesses.
As per the company’s claims, it is also exploring additional strategic acquisitions in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe, Middle East, and Africa.