US-based provider of payment processing solutions Finix has raised USD 30 million in new venture capital, bringing its total known raised to USD 133 million, with new investors taking part to the round. The round comes nearly two years after the do-it-yourself payments company closed a USD 30 million extension to its USD 35 million Series B and about 18 months after it raised a USD 3 million SPV led by LatinX and Black investors.

New and existing backers The General Partnership (TheGP), Franklin Templeton, Acrew Capital, American Express Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Cap Table Coalition, Homebrew, Insight Partners, Inspired Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, PSP Growth, and Vamos Ventures participated in the company’s latest round. Finix did not disclose its valuation, noting in the press release that the capital was raised this summer and ‘occurred at an increased valuation. ’ The SaaS startup’s core business helps software companies process their own payments through flexible software, though it has since expanded into being a direct payments facilitator.

David versus Goliath One month after the startup raised its 2020 Series B led by Sequoia in 2020, the venture firm walked away from the deal, reportedly returning to Finix a USD 21 million check representing the full value of its investment along with its board seat, information rights and shares. Sequoia decided to pull back because it decided Finix competed directly with Stripe, one of its portfolio darlings. As we found out in July 2022, Stripe has lost its valuation by 28%, becoming the latest privately funded fintech to suffer from the repercussions of a sustained sell-off of tech shares.

At that time, the company informed employees of the mark down by email, setting its implied share price at USD 29, versus the previous calculation of USD 40. In May, Finix intensified the competition with Stripe when it announced it would directly facilitate payments through its in-house platform, which it had not historically been able to do as just an API provider. Its transition to direct facilitation allowed it to capture smaller customers below its previous sweet spot of serving customers with approximately USD 50 million in transaction volume.

It also entered the in-person payments space to allow different types of businesses to accept credit card payments. Although Finix is a direct competitor to Stripe, the company’s CEO says they differ, as Finix is focused on creating an open ecosystem. Finix thus adopted a strategy shift, from a technology company to becoming a payments facilitator.

They can now provide the payments solutions and all the back-office requirements and compliance certifications. .