Mastercard joins $25 million round in Australia’s mx51

Mastercard has joined a $25 million funding round in Australian payments-as-a-service fintech mx51.

The funds represent mx51’s first major round of investment, secured less than 12 months after the firm was spun out of Assembly Payments in May 2020. The business is led and founded by former Westpac executive and former Assembly Payments co-CEO Victor Zheng.

Banks and acquirers deploy mx51’s technology to offer a white-label platform for merchants that competes with the likes of Stripe, Tyro and Square.

Thanks to its launch partnership with Westpac the company has processed over $1 billion in transactions since founding last year.

CEO Zheng says the firm expects to grow its total volume to over $10 billion within the next 12 months as it closes partnerships with more major Australian financial institutions.

“mx51 is helping Australian banks and acquirers, who are the backbone of our financial services sector, compete with a myriad of nimble overseas competitors who are muscling in on the payments sector,” he says. “Our partnership with Westpac has been a fantastic incubator for the product, and now we are in advanced discussions around expanding to other financial services institutions across Australia.”

He says the firm – a graduate of Mastercard’s global fintech accelerator program Start Path in 2020 – will raise its headcount by 30% as part of its growth trajectory. Other investors in the round include Acorn Capital, Artesian, and Commencer Capital.