Venture funding

Government incentives and pandemic-fueled changes to habits create opportunities in the region.

Stori raised new funding to expand access to credit cards via an in-app application, setting its sights on becoming the Ant Group of Mexico.

Balance, an API-based checkout solution designed for B2B e-commerce, has raised $5.5 million to launch operations with backing from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Stripe, Affirm and PayPal cofounder Max Levchin.

Cross-border payments technology provider Routefusion plans to expand its embedded software services and global partnerships after a recent funding round.

Fast has received a new round of funding from backers including Stripe.

The latest round includes two new investors, Eurazeo Growth and Wellington Management, as well as one returning shareholder, Sprints Capital.

The Utah company, which serves more than 2,000 banks and credit unions, has grown rapidly because it helps financial institutions deliver the types of personalized financial advice consumers have increasingly come to expect.

U.K. fintech Rapyd, backed by Stripe, has raised $300 million in a Series D round to fuel its growth through acquisitions in payment processing, card issuing and disbursements.

Fundraising platform TapSimple has raised nearly £1 million (U.S. $1.3 million) in an investment round that will help it to continue to develop fundraising activity in what it describes as an increasingly cashless world.

London-based crypto payments app Ziglu, launched by Starling Bank co-founder Mark Hipperson, has raised £6 million (about $8 million) on the Seedrs equity crowdfunding platform.

Marketplace payments technology provider ConnexPay has secured additional funding from investors to reach $15 million, and it will use its funding to increase product offerings in the travel industry and expand in other e-commerce sectors.

Stripe Inc. is in talks to raise a new funding round valuing it higher than its last private valuation of $36 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

E-commerce fraud prevention provider Forter has raised $125 million in a Series E funding round, pushing the New York-based company's valuation to more than $1.3 billion.

In a battle between two giants of ride-hailing and payments, Grab beat out Go-Jek to lead a $100 million fundraising round for the Indonesian government-backed e-wallet provider LinkAja.

Atlanta-based Bluefin has won $25 million in funding to develop new services and expand its reach.

São Paulo, Brazil-based payments fintech Conductor Technology has raised $150 million in a private equity round led by Viking Global Investors.

Alliance Data plans to make Bread’s buy now, pay later options available to credit card-issuing merchant clients.

Mexican payments startup Klar has raised $15 million in a Series A round in an effort to challenge traditional banks by expanding access to debit cards and credit lines.

Visa on Monday made an investment in Global Processing Services, which powers the payment rails for several challenger banks and fintechs. It's similar to a January investment Mastercard made in Marqeta, an open API card issuing and processing platform.

New York-based earned wage access (EWA) startup Clair has raised $4.5 million in a seed fundraising round to target the small-business market.