editorial
Ivy, the global API provider for instant bank transfers, has successfully raised $20 million in a Series A investment round led by Valar Ventures. This comes shortly after a $7.7 million seed round led by Creandum.
Co-founder of Ivy, Ferdinand Dabitz, expressed that the consecutive fundraises highlight the value the company offers to its customers and demonstrate strong market conviction in their vision.
Ivy’s main focus is on building a network of instant bank transfer networks as numerous countries are rolling out instant bank payment infrastructures. These include systems such as Pix, UPI, FedNow, and Open Banking. Ivy aims to bring these diverse regional systems together into a unified gateway, providing businesses with access to real-time payments.
By eliminating intermediaries like credit cards and digital wallets, instant bank transfer technology allows for direct transfers from one bank to another. This structure reduces transaction costs and fraud risks, while increasing the speed of settlements.
Ludwig Krayl, Head of E-Commerce at Mactrade, highlighted the positive impact Ivy has had on their balance sheet, stating that they directly save costs on every transaction and find the risk management tools extremely effective.
Ivy offers a comprehensive payment platform that includes features such as smart routing, risk management, and value-added services like instant payouts and payment links. Their smart routing engine uses machine learning technology to select the bank details with the highest probability of successful transfers in real-time. This improves conversion rates, success rates, and reduces fraud risks.
Currently, Ivy is connected to over 500 million bank accounts in over 50 countries. They cater to various industries, including e-commerce, travel, marketplaces, and FinTech. By working with payment service providers through their API, Ivy is able to offer benefits like lower transaction fees, instant settlement, and independence from cards and wallets.
Andrew McCormack, General Partner at Valar Ventures, compared Ivy’s impact on account-to-account transfers to the revolution brought about by Visa and Mastercard for card payments. He praised Ivy’s powerful payment platform and sophisticated smart routing for increasing success rates for businesses.
Notable angel investors in Ivy include eight unicorn founders and industry leaders such as N26 founder Maximilian Tayenthal, Mollie CEO and former Klarna CTO Koen Köppen, Pleo founder/CEO Jeppe Rindom, former Commerzbank CEO Martin Blessing, and Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg.
Ivy’s team comprises professionals from reputable companies such as Klarna, GoCardless, PPRO, AmazonPay, and Worldpay. They are currently expanding their team and seeking talented individuals in sales, technology, and product development who are eager to revolutionize global payment processing.
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