Goldman-backed Flywire files paperwork for IPO which could reach $3bn

Flywire, a Boston-based payments processor, has submitted a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO).

According to Reuters, which first reported the listing plans in January, the IPO could value Flywire at $3 billion.

The fintech is working with major US investment banks Goldman Sachs – also one of its investors and JP Morgan Chase, to go public.

Flywire, which is also backed by heavyweights Temasek and Bain Capital, has not revealed the number of shares or the price range.

The start-up processes payments within the travel, health and education sectors. It landed unicorn status back in February 2020.

CEO Mike Massaro said that a key pillar to Flywire’s success has been taking a sector by sector approach to payments, rather than going ‘pan-payments’ all at once.

For Flywire, only 15% of the payments it processes are credit cards. Most are bank to bank transactions which require layers of extra software to initiate.

“You can’t swoop in and disrupt some of these more complex industries without a differentiated offering,” Massaro said last year. “That’s why our combination of software and payments is pretty rare in the industry right now.”

Flywire has listed itself as profitable since its Series B funding round in 2013, according to PitchBook. A filing held by Companies House shows that the fintech’s UK business made £174,453 in 2018. Alongside £1 million in issued share capital.

In May 2020, Business Insider revealed that Flywire – among a number of fintechs during the pandemic – was making cuts to its workforce.

The start-up slashed 12% of its overall employee count. This included 60 employees, and a further 16 workers on part-time contracts which ran until the end of 2020.

With travel bans and the uncertainty around America’s college re-openings taking down two of its revenue streams, Flywire’s health-focused business likely became the main income source during the height of the pandemic.

Massaro said last year that the fintech is open to breaking into more verticals. Such as manufacturing, or import and exporting, where payments are in dire need of a digital overhaul.