Payment Platform Marqeta Raises $45 Million From Goldman, Iconiq

(Bloomberg) -- Marqeta Inc. may never be a household name, but its behind-the-scenes payments services have attracted plenty of attention. The fintech startup announced Tuesday that it is raising $45 million from investors including Iconiq Capital, the family office with investors including Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s investment bank.

Marqeta, whose platform powers prepaid debit and credit cards, has been able to ride the wave of growth in the multi-trillion dollar payments market. Payment volume at the firm has more than doubled in last six months and its virtual card business is on pace to grow four times this year, according to a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak about company financials.

The Oakland, California-based company's new round includes Iconiq and Goldman, along with two previous investors. The cash influx brings Marqeta's total funding to $116 million.

The company has racked up clients including Square Inc., Affirm Inc., Kabbage Inc. and Alipay since its founding in 2010. Marqeta also has partnerships with large networks like Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and Discover Financial Services. The company's platform allows users to build cards and payment systems for themselves, which can mean creating customized virtual cards for suppliers and employees, and completing online point-of-sale transactions. For example, Instacart can give contractors a debit card issued by Marqeta to pay for goods purchased in store. And Alipay can use the company to let Chinese consumers instantly pay with their Alipay accounts when shopping in the U.S.

Marqeta said this round was an opportunistic one, and that they had not been planning to raise again this soon. “We're very excited to bring these investors on board,” Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jason Gardner said. Gardner declined to comment on the company's valuation other than to say it was higher than the previous round raised 12 months ago.

Gardner said that the funding will be used to expand international growth, and to enhance its existing product offerings.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Verhage in New York at jverhage2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Anne VanderMey, Andrew Pollack

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