Currencycloud, the payments startup behind fintech apps Monzo and Revolut, just closed $80M funding led by Visa

Currencycloud, a U.K.-based payments startup which sells payment software for banks and fintech firms to process their international transactions, has closed $80 million in a funding round co-led by SAP’s venture arm Sapphire and Visa. Currently operates in Europe and North America, the company will use funding proceeds to expand into Asia.

Though not as well-known as consumer-focused peers like Monzo and Revolut, Currencycloud provides some of the crucial underlying “plumbing” in the background for these apps to operate. They take care of all the intricacies and regulatory hurdles involved with cross-border payments, giving their customers the tools to globalize their business.

Founded in 2007 by CEO Nigel Verdon, Currencycloud powers cross-border payments for a number of popular finance apps. Currencycloud is a global payments platform built on smart technology that takes the complexity out of moving money. Developers use their API building blocks to build customized payment solutions. Whether you want to embed their payments infrastructure into your products or services, or build on top of it, they will fit into your business in a way that works for you.

“We call the segment embedded finance,” Currencycloud CEO Mike Laven told CNBC in an interview, explaining the firm embeds its product into platforms from big banks and fintechs. “We’re probably the most important business that you’ve never heard of. But that’s conscientious on our part. We do not have a strategy where we compete with our customers.”

The firm’s latest series of funding was co-led by SAP’s venture arm Sapphire and Visa, and also attracted backing from Google, the investment arm of the World Bank, French lender BNP Paribas and Japanese bank SBI. Visa’s treasurer, Colleen Ostrowski, will join Currencycloud’s board following the deal.