Checkout.com, a global payments company with presence in MENA hits $5.5 billion valuation in new round

Checkout.com, a London-headquartered global payments company has tripled its valuation to $5.5 billion with the closing of its $150 million Series B, it announced in a statement today. The company that has a big presence in the Middle East through its Dubai office that serves clients all over GCC and Egypt, has become one of the most valuable fintechs in the world with the latest round.

“The $5.5bn valuation reflects a growing business demand for transformative online payment solutions that perform across all geographies and channels,” it said in a statement.

The round was led by New York-based technology hedge fund Coatue, with participation from existing investors including Insight Partners, DST Global, Blossom Capital, and Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, GIC.

Checkout.com’s founder and CEO Guillaume Pousaz, speaking to Financial Times, said that he approached in May and finalized the deal after receiving six offers, with each of the potential investors agreeing to the price he proposed.

The eight-year-old company had raised its first external funding round in May 2019, which was a $230 million Series A. It was the largest Series A raised by a European fintech at the time. Financial Times had reported that the Series A valued the company at $2 billion.

Chekcout.com’s online transaction numbers, it said have seen a growth of over 250 percent (company May on a YoY basis). The fintech that already provides its payment solutions to some of the world’s leading companies has added over 500 new merchants to its book including Careem, Grab, Glovo, Revolut, and Robinhood. Its revenues have also doubled in the past year with the company now making ‘well above’ $100 million every year.

Its business solutions allow these enterprises to process payments in more than 150 currencies, with direct access to Visa, Mastercard, American Express, all major international cards, as well as popular alternative and local payment methods.

Checkout.com in a statement said that it has been profitable since 2012, adding that the new funds will further strengthen its balance sheet, bringing available cash to over $300m. The company also said that it plans to invest in the development of new innovative products, including its upcoming advanced Payouts solution and the capability to accelerate settlement times.

Guillaume Pousaz said, “I’m thrilled to welcome Coatue to our cap table. As meaningful investors in late-stage tech companies such as Instacart, DoorDash, Bytedance and Chime they bring a wealth of experience in building world-class businesses driven by operational excellence. They share our vision for a future of connected payments which made them an obvious choice as partners for us.”

“The way money moves into and out of businesses is changing rapidly. I believe that by solving financial complexity, you can radically unlock innovation — starting with digital payments. At Checkout.com, we’ve built a technical architecture that enables pioneers to reinvent industries and redefine their relationship with consumers. Now more than ever, we are confident of our mission to build the connected payments that businesses deserve,” he added.

Kris Fredrickson, Managing Partner at Coatue, said, “We have followed the business’ explosive growth and are inspired by Guillaume’s vision for the future of payments. We’re incredibly excited to partner for the next phase of the Checkout.com journey.”