Velocity, a fast‑growing fintech firm based in London that builds the underlying infrastructure for modern digital payments, announced today that it has successfully extended its Series A financing round to a total of $48 million. The additional capital brings the company’s post‑money valuation to approximately $200 million. The round was led by a consortium of strategic investors that includes global payment network Visa, blockchain‑focused financial services firm Circle, and cryptocurrency‑centric company Ripple, alongside several other venture capital partners.
The infusion of funds is set to accelerate Velocity’s roadmap for expanding its suite of APIs and developer tools that enable merchants, platforms, and financial institutions to embed seamless payment experiences into their products. CEO Eric Queathem highlighted that the new capital will be deployed across three primary areas: scaling the engineering team to enhance the platform’s performance and security, deepening partnerships with major card schemes and emerging digital asset networks, and expanding the company’s go‑to‑market operations across Europe, North America, and the Asia‑Pacific region. Velocity’s technology stack differentiates itself by offering a unified interface that abstracts the complexities of multiple payment rails—ranging from traditional card schemes to newer real‑time settlement networks and blockchain‑based tokens.
By doing so, the platform reduces the integration burden for developers and cuts transaction costs for merchants. This approach aligns with the broader industry shift toward composable banking, where businesses can cherry‑pick best‑in‑class services rather than relying on monolithic legacy systems. The involvement of Visa, Circle, and Ripple as investors signals strong endorsement from both the traditional payments ecosystem and the burgeoning crypto‑finance sector. Visa’s participation underscores its strategic interest in supporting open‑banking initiatives and fostering innovation that can complement its own network.
Circle, known for its stablecoin USDC, brings deep expertise in digital asset compliance and liquidity provisioning, which will help Velocity broaden its support for stablecoin settlements. Ripple’s investment adds a layer of credibility in cross‑border payments, given its focus on leveraging the XRP ledger for fast, low‑cost international transfers. Industry analysts view the $48 million raise as a validation of Velocity’s market traction. Since its inception, the company has onboarded over 150 enterprise customers, ranging from e‑commerce platforms and SaaS providers to fintech startups seeking to embed payment capabilities without building infrastructure from scratch.
The firm reports that its transaction volume has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 120% over the past 12 months, processing billions of dollars in payments each quarter. The new funding also positions Velocity to explore additional product lines, such as embedded finance services that include credit underwriting, fraud detection, and real‑time settlement analytics. By integrating these capabilities, Velocity aims to become a one‑stop shop for businesses that want to offer end‑to‑end financial experiences to their customers.
Queathem noted that the company is already piloting a suite of credit‑as‑a‑service APIs that leverage machine‑learning models to assess borrower risk in seconds, a feature that could be especially valuable for marketplaces and gig‑economy platforms. From a regulatory standpoint, Velocity is working closely with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other global regulators to ensure its platform meets the highest standards of security, data protection, and anti‑money‑laundering (AML) compliance. The backing of established players like Visa and Ripple, both of which have robust compliance frameworks, is expected to streamline Velocity’s efforts to obtain necessary licences and certifications across jurisdictions.
Looking ahead, Velocity plans to use part of the capital to open new engineering hubs in key tech talent markets, including Berlin and Singapore. This geographic diversification is intended to attract top developers with expertise in blockchain, cloud‑native architectures, and low‑latency payment processing. The company also intends to invest in community outreach programs, such as developer hackathons and open‑source contributions, to foster an ecosystem of third‑party innovators building on its platform.
In summary, the extended Series A round not only boosts Velocity’s financial runway but also cements its strategic partnerships across the traditional and decentralized finance landscapes. With a $200 million valuation and the confidence of industry heavyweights, Velocity is well‑positioned to accelerate its mission of simplifying payments infrastructure for the next generation of digital businesses.
The company expects to achieve profitability within the next 24‑36 months, driven by a combination of subscription‑based revenue from its API services, transaction fees, and value‑added financial products that will roll out as the platform matures.