How many payments unicorns are out there?

It’s interesting that we have over 30,000 fintech start-ups worldwide but only a few we talk about a lot. Stripe, Klarna, NuBank, Alipay … sure, there are 300 unicorns but there are thousands of roadkill along the way.

What surprises me is how many sneak out of the woods when you least expect it. By way of example, MyGuava caught my attention over the weekend. Why? Well, I’m sitting watching Match of the Day – a summary of the day’s football action (to my American friends, it’s NOT soccer) – and I suddenly see advertising all around the ground for this company. Who are they? What do they do? Why are they advertising at a football ground?

Well, the last question is obvious: to get Chris Skinner’s attention. The rest is more intriguing as, like a lion hunting a gazelle, they’ve been hiding in the woods to suddenly grab the target.

It made me intrigued, so watch this space for more soon, but it also made me seek out who are the most valuable payments firms out there. So here are 50 payments unicorns out there (thanks to failory) that doesn’t even include PayPal, Stripe, Adyen, Wise, Revolut or MyGuava.

1) Checkout.com

Checkout.com's API allows businesses to integrate a seamless checkout experience across platforms.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $40.00B (May 2019)
• Country: United Kingdom
• State: England
• City: London
• Started in: 2012
• Founders: Guillaume Pousaz
• Number of employees: 1,000-5,000
• Funding: $1,830.00M
• Funding rounds: 4
• Number of investors: 12

You can find their website here.

2) Ripple

Ripple offers blockchain solutions to transfer money globally with speed and certainty of settlement.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $15.00B (December 2019)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2012
• Founders: Arthur Britto, Chris Larsen, Jed McCaleb, Ryan Fugger
• Number of employees: 500-1,000
• Funding: $293.90M
• Funding rounds: 14
• Number of investors: 38

You can find their website here.

3) Bolt

Bolt enhances the bonds between retailers and their customers by enabling secure, authenticated, and quick checkouts.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $11.00B (October 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2014
• Founders: Eric Feldman, Ryan Breslow
• Number of employees: 500-1,000
• Funding: $963.00M
• Funding rounds: 11
• Number of investors: 76

You can find their website here.

4) TripActions

TripActions is a travel management platform that helps streamline the business travel and expense process for companies.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $9.20B (November 2018)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: Palo Alto
• Started in: 2015
• Founders: Ariel Cohen, Ilan Twig
• Number of employees: 1,000-5,000
• Funding: $1,040.48M
• Funding rounds: 13
• Number of investors: 21

You can find their website here.

5) Rapyd

Rapyd is creating a payments platform that integrates with any app, to deliver local payment methods in one service.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $8.75B (December 2019)
• Country: United Kingdom
• State: England
• City: London
• Started in: 2016
• Founders: Arik Shtilman, Arkady Karpman, Omer Priel
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $775.00M
• Funding rounds: 6
• Number of investors: 21

You can find their website here.

6) Tipalti

Tipalti delivers cloud-based solution designed to help multinational corporations manage their global payables operations.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $8.30B (October 2020)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Mateo
• Started in: 2010
• Founders: Chen Amit, Oren Zeev
• Number of employees: 500-1,000
• Funding: $502.50M
• Funding rounds: 9
• Number of investors: 13

You can find their website here.

7) Razorpay

Razorpay's payment platform is a single API for accepting transactions and disbursing funds in India.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $7.50B (October 2020)
• Country: India
• City: Bengaluru
• Started in: 2013
• Founders: Harshil Mathur, Shashank Kumar
• Number of employees: 1,000-5,000
• Funding: $741.62M
• Funding rounds: 9
• Number of investors: 34

You can find their website here.

8) Klarna

Klarna combines the simplicity of shopping with the speed of online payment processing to create a superior experience for your customers.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $6.70B (December 2011)
• Country: Sweden
• City: Stockholm
• Started in: 2005
• Founders: Niklas Adalberth, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Victor Jacobsson
• Number of employees: 5,000-10,000
• Funding: $3,471.72M
• Funding rounds: 33
• Number of investors: 65

You can find their website here.

9) CRED

CRED provides members with a single, easy-to-use platform to organize and manage all of their credit card bills. As a member, you’ll earn cash for each and every one of your payments.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $6.40B (April 2021)
• Country: India
• City: Bengaluru
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Kunal Shah
• Number of employees: 500-1,000
• Funding: $692.48M
• Funding rounds: 8
• Number of investors: 31

You can find their website here.

10) Airwallex

Airwallex is a fintech platform that includes international payments network, global trade finance platform, and digital currency asset trading for the financial ecosystem.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $5.50B (March 2019)
• Country: Australia
• State: Victoria
• City: Melbourne
• Started in: 2015
• Founders: Jack Zhang, Jacob Dai, Lucy Yueting Liu, Max Li
• Number of employees: 1,000-5,000
• Funding: $802.00M
• Funding rounds: 11
• Number of investors: 20

You can find their website here.

11) Pine Labs

Pine Labs is an Indian merchant payment platform for businesses to provide frictionless payment experiences with its customers.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $5.00B (January 2020)
• Country: India
• City: Noida
• Started in: 1998
• Founders: Rajul Garg, Tarun Upaday
• Number of employees: 1,000-5,000
• Funding: $1,077.00M
• Funding rounds: 13
• Number of investors: 25

You can find their website here.

12) Pleo

Pleo offers smart payment cards for employees to buy work-related products while keeping the company in control of spending.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $4.70B (July 2021)
• Country: Denmark
• City: Copenhagen
• Started in: 2015
• Founders: Jeppe Rindom, Niccolo Perra
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $428.80M
• Funding rounds: 7
• Number of investors: 10

You can find their website here.

13) Melio

Melio is a cloud-based payment and receivables management platform that enables businesses to manage, track, and optimize their financial flows.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $4.00B (January 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: New York
• City: New York
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Ilan Atias, Matan Bar, Ziv Paz
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $504.00M
• Funding rounds: 5
• Number of investors: 14

You can find their website here.

14) SpotOn

SpotOn provides mobile payment technology and management system for restaurants and small businesses.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $3.60B (May 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2017
• Founders: Doron Friedman, Matt Hyman, Zach Hyman
• Number of employees: 1,000-5,000
• Funding: $600.00M
• Funding rounds: 7
• Number of investors: 13

You can find their website here.

15) ChargeBee Technologies

Chargebee provides subscription and recurring billing systems that support e-commerce and subscription businesses. Their intuitive cloud platform makes it easy for you to manage customer subscriptions, invoices, create and send marketing emails and much more.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $3.50B (April 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2011
• Founders: KP Saravanan, Krish Subramanian, Rajaraman Santhanam, Thiyagarajan Thiyagu
• Number of employees: 1,000-5,000
• Funding: $468.65M
• Funding rounds: 8
• Number of investors: 7

You can find their website here.

16) Cedar

Cedar is a payment and engagement solution used by hospitals and medical groups.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $3.20B (March 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: New York
• City: New York
• Started in: 2016
• Founders: Arel Lidow, Florian Otto, Kareem Zaki
• Number of employees: 100-250
• Funding: $350.81M
• Funding rounds: 5
• Number of investors: 17

You can find their website here.

17) Remote

Remote offers international payroll, benefits, and compliance services for employees and contractors.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $3.00B (July 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2019
• Founders: Job van der Voort, Marcelo Lebre
• Number of employees: 500-1,000
• Funding: $315.00M
• Funding rounds: 3
• Number of investors: 20

You can find their website here.

18) Flutterwave

Flutterwave is a global payment technology that helps banks and other financial institutions process cross-border payments at speeds and scale.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $3.00B (March 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2016
• Founders: Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga Agboola
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $474.71M
• Funding rounds: 11
• Number of investors: 48

You can find their website here.

19) BharatPe

BharatPe is a financial services platform that handles payments using UPI and point-of-sale (POS) terminals and provides businesses with credit or loans.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.85B (July 2021)
• Country: India
• City: New Delhi
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Ashneer Grover, Bhavik Koladiya, Shashvat Nakrani
• Number of employees: 1,000-5,000
• Funding: $702.25M
• Funding rounds: 11
• Number of investors: 23

You can find their website here.

20) Coda Payments

Coda Payments assists digital content providers in more than forty markets in monetizing their products and services.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.50B (April 2022)
• Country: Singapore
• State: Central Region
• City: Singapore
• Started in: 2011
• Founders: Bobby Choi, Neil Davidson, Paul Leishman
• Number of employees: 251-500
• Funding: $715.25M
• Funding rounds: 8
• Number of investors: 14

You can find their website here.

21) Greenlight

Greenlight is the first family-friendly debit card that allows parents monitor and set allowances for their children.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.30B (September 2020)
• Country: United States
• State: Georgia
• City: Atlanta
• Started in: 2014
• Founders: Johnson Cook, Timothy Sheehan
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $556.50M
• Funding rounds: 6
• Number of investors: 29

You can find their website here.

22) Jeeves

Jeeves is a fintech company that specialises in expense management and payment processing.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.10B (March 2022)
• Country: United States
• State: New York
• City: New York
• Started in: 2019
• Founders: Dileep Thazhmon, Sherwin Gandhi
• Number of employees: 101-250
• Funding: $368.00M
• Funding rounds: 5
• Number of investors: 52

You can find their website here.

23) PayFit

PayFit offers technology that simplifies and automates payroll and HR processes for small and medium-sized businesses.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.10B (January 2022)
• Country: United Kingdom
• State: England
• City: London
• Started in: 2016
• Founders: Firmin Zocchetto, Florian Fournier, Ghislain de Fontenay
• Number of employees: 500-1,000
• Funding: $497.24M
• Funding rounds: 6
• Number of investors: 15

You can find their website here.

24) GoCardless

GoCardless is a payment company that makes collecting payments by direct debit easy for everyone.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.10B (February 2022)
• Country: United Kingdom
• State: England
• City: London
• Started in: 2011
• Founders: Hiroki Takeuchi, Matt Robinson, Tom Blomfield
• Number of employees: 500-1,000
• Funding: $529.32M
• Funding rounds: 10
• Number of investors: 18

You can find their website here.

25) Modern Treasury

Modern Treasury offers a payment operations platform used to simplify and modernize business payments.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.00B (October 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Dimitri Dadiomov, Matthew Marcus, Sam Aarons
• Number of employees: 10-50
• Funding: $133.12M
• Funding rounds: 4
• Number of investors: 10

You can find their website here.

26) Chipper Cash

Chipper Cash is a fintech company that specializes in mobile cross-border money transfers.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.00B (June 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2017
• Founders: Ham Serunjogi, Maijid Moujaled
• Number of employees: 100-250
• Funding: $302.60M
• Funding rounds: 6
• Number of investors: 21

You can find their website here.

27) Zilch

Zilch is a buy now, pay later app that allows its customers to shop wherever Mastercard is accepted.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.00B (November 2021)
• Country: United Kingdom
• State: England
• City: London
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Philip Belamant
• Number of employees: 100-250
• Funding: $339.20M
• Funding rounds: 5
• Number of investors: 6

You can find their website here.

28) Clip

Clip is a payment terminal that enables businesses to accept all electronic payment methods with ease.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $2.00B (June 2021)
• Country: Mexico
• City: Mexico City
• Started in: 2012
• Founders: Adolfo Babatz, Vilash Poovala
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $397.36M
• Funding rounds: 10
• Number of investors: 16

You can find their website here.

29) Kushki

Kushki provides an integrated payments platform as well as omnichannel solutions for e-commerce, m-commerce, and physical stores to clients.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.50B (June 2022)
• Country: Ecuador
• State: Pichincha
• City: Quito
• Started in: 2017
• Founders: Aron Schwarzkopf, Daniela Espinosa, Jose Santacruz, Madeleine Clavijo Verjel, Melissa Castro, Sebastian Castro
• Number of employees: 501-1000
• Funding: $194.00M
• Funding rounds: 5
• Number of investors: 11

You can find their website here.

30) Dock

Dock is a financial technology company that combines card issuing and core banking services.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.50B (May 2022)
• Country: Brazil
• State: Sao Paulo
• City: São Paulo
• Started in: 2014
• Founders: Diogo Frenkel, Frederico Amaral, Marcelo Jacques
• Number of employees: 1001-5000
• Funding: $280.00M
• Funding rounds: 4
• Number of investors: 7

You can find their website here.

31) Spendesk

Spendesk is a smart spend management software designed for both finance teams and employees.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.50B (January 2022)
• Country: France
• City: Paris
• Started in: 2015
• Founders: Jordane Giuly, Rodolphe Ardant, Thibaud Elziere
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $300.34M
• Funding rounds: 7
• Number of investors: 23

You can find their website here.

32) Justworks

Justworks provides essential human-centric benefits, payroll, HR, and employee engagement software for small businesses.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.43B (January 2020)
• Country: United States
• State: New York
• City: New York
• Started in: 2012
• Founders: Iris Ramos, Isaac Oates
• Number of employees: 500-1,000
• Funding: $143.00M
• Funding rounds: 6
• Number of investors: 15

You can find their website here.

33) Paddle

Paddle provides payment infrastructure to SaaS companies.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.40B (May 2022)
• Country: United Kingdom
• State: England
• City: London
• Started in: 2012
• Founders: Christian Owens, Harrison Rose
• Number of employees: 101-250
• Funding: $293.34M
• Funding rounds: 10
• Number of investors: 11

You can find their website here.

34) Incode Technologies

Incode Technologies is a real-life verification company that specializes in omnichannel biometric identity.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.25B (December 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2015
• Founders: Ricardo Amper
• Number of employees: 100-250
• Funding: $255.00M
• Funding rounds: 4
• Number of investors: 12

You can find their website here.

35) Zip

Zip is a provider of online payment technology that provides consumers with credit options for online shopping.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.20B (May 2022)
• Country: Australia
• State: New South Wales
• City: Sydney
• Started in: 2013
• Founders: Brad Lindenberg, Larry Diamond, Niamh Mc Enaney, Peter Gray, Peter Gray
• Number of employees: 501-1000
• Funding: $893.56M
• Funding rounds: 8
• Number of investors: 4

You can find their website here.

36) Happy Money

Financial Tools and Services for Human Happiness

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.15B (February 2022)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: Tustin
• Started in: 2009
• Founders: Eden Warner, Scott Saunders
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $115.00M
• Funding rounds: 7
• Number of investors: 7

You can find their website here.

37) Fundbox

Fundbox is an AI-powered financial platform for small businesses.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.10B (November 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: Texas
• City: Plano
• Started in: 2013
• Founders: Eyal Shinar, Tomer Michaeli, Yuval Ariav
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $553.50M
• Funding rounds: 8
• Number of investors: 35

You can find their website here.

38) MobileCoin

MobileCoin is a cryptocurrency platform that provides anti-fraud services and payment systems for merchants.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.06B (July 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Joshua Goldbard
• Number of employees: 10-50
• Funding: $108.03M
• Funding rounds: 4
• Number of investors: 30

You can find their website here.

39) C2FO

C2FO is a leading provider of business financial management software. Its cloud-based platform helps businesses of all sizes increase cash flow and manage their accounts payable and accounts receivable in real time.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.05B (August 2019)
• Country: United States
• State: Kansas
• City: Leawood
• Started in: 2008
• Founders: Alexander C. Kemper, Pete Thomas
• Number of employees: 250-500
• Funding: $474.68M
• Funding rounds: 9
• Number of investors: 14

You can find their website here.

40) Oyster

Oyster is a provider of digital financial services for freelancers, startups, and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (April 2022)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Gabriel Leon, Vilash Poovala
• Number of employees: 51-100
• Funding: $14.00M
• Funding rounds: 2
• Number of investors: 10

You can find their website here.

41) Zebec

Zebec is a Solana continuous settlement protocol. Beginning with Stream Payroll, Zebec is enabling the composable transfer of value.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (August 2022)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: San Francisco
• Started in: 2021
• Founders: Sam Thapaliya
• Number of employees: 1-10
• Funding: $42.50M
• Funding rounds: 3
• Number of investors: 28

You can find their website here.

42) Paystand

Paystand is a B2B billing and payment platform hosted in the cloud.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (August 2022)
• Country: United States
• State: California
• City: Scotts Valley
• Started in: 2013
• Founders: Jeremy Almond, Scott Campbell
• Number of employees: 51-100
• Funding: $98.00M
• Funding rounds: 8
• Number of investors: 21

You can find their website here.

43) TransferMate

TransferMate creates a B2B payment platform that automates the manual tasks associated with paying and receiving payments.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (May 2022)
• Country: Ireland
• State: Kilkenny
• City: Kilkenny
• Started in: 2010
• Founders: Barry Dowling, Sinead Fitzmaurice, Terry Clune
• Number of employees: 251-500
• Funding: $129.69M
• Funding rounds: 3
• Number of investors: 3

You can find their website here.

44) FLASH

Flash focuses on food vouchers in Brazil, developing an all-in-one tool that combines a MasterCard, a frequently used app, and an HR platform.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (March 2022)
• Country: Brazil
• State: Sao Paulo
• City: São Paulo
• Started in: 2019
• Founders: Guilherme Lane, Pedro Lane, Ricardo Salem
• Number of employees: 251-500
• Funding: $130.00M
• Funding rounds: 4
• Number of investors: 16

You can find their website here.

45) Payhawk

Payhawk is a financial system that integrates credit cards, payments, expenses, and cash into a single experience.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (February 2022)
• Country: United Kingdom
• State: England
• City: London
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Boyko Karadzhov, Hristo Borisov, Konstantin Dzhengozov
• Number of employees: 251-500
• Funding: $239.07M
• Funding rounds: 6
• Number of investors: 18

You can find their website here.

46) Opn

Opn provides fintech solutions, consulting, and digital e-commerce solutions.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (May 2022)
• Country: Japan
• State: Tokyo
• City: Tokyo
• Started in: 2013
• Founders: Jun Hasegawa
• Number of employees: 101-250
• Funding: $260.40M
• Funding rounds: 10
• Number of investors: 25

You can find their website here.

47) Satispay

Satispay is a fintech company that offers a mobile payment platform that accepts bank accounts.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (September 2022)
• Country: Italy
• State: Lombardia
• City: Milan
• Started in: 2013
• Founders: Alberto Dalmasso, Dario Brignone, Samuele Pinta
• Number of employees: 251-500
• Funding: $471.47M
• Funding rounds: 10
• Number of investors: 26

You can find their website here.

48) Scalapay

Scalapay is a payment solution provider that enables customers to purchase and pay in three installments without incurring any additional interest.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (February 2022)
• Country: Italy
• State: Lombardia
• City: Milan
• Started in: 2019
• Founders: Johnny Mitrevski, Simone Mancini
• Number of employees: 51-100
• Funding: $727.48M
• Funding rounds: 5
• Number of investors: 11

You can find their website here.

49) Clara

Spend management from start to finish for Latin American businesses.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (December 2021)
• Country: Mexico
• City: Mexico City
• Started in: 2020
• Founders: Diego Garcia, Gerry Giacoman Colyer, Guilherme Penna
• Number of employees: 100-250
• Funding: $108.50M
• Funding rounds: 6
• Number of investors: 43

You can find their website here.

50) Wrapbook

Wrapbook provides digital profiles that facilitate onboarding, paying and insuring project workforces compliantly.

Details of the startup:

• Valuation: $1.00B (November 2021)
• Country: United States
• State: New York
• City: New York
• Started in: 2018
• Founders: Ali Javid, Cameron Woodward, Hesham El-Nahhas, Naysawn Naji
• Number of employees: 50-100
• Funding: $130.60M
• Funding rounds: 3
• Number of investors: 10

You can find their website here.