Fintech-as-a-Service Platform Strong Secures $63 Million in Sequence B Funding

Fintech-as-a-service innovator Strong raised $63 million in Sequence B funding this week.Strong affords a platform that allows companies to construct and scale embedded fintech merchandise into their very own options.The corporate, which made its Finovate debut in 2019 as “Smart,” will use the funding to speed up its enlargement into “fintech-ready” verticals similar to journey, well being care, and the gig economic system.

Fintech-as-a-service firm Strong has raised $63 million in Sequence B funding. The corporate affords infrastructure to allow firms to launch and convey to scale embedded fintech options. The spherical was led by FTV Capital. Current investor Headline additionally participated.

“We constructed probably the most complete fintech infrastructure from the bottom up, so others don’t need to,” Strong co-founder and CEO Arjun Thyagarajan mentioned. “Now, any firm can shortly spin up financial institution accounts, crypto wallets, ship funds, and difficulty playing cards to their finish customers, proper into their product expertise, whereas Strong does the heavy lifting of constructing and sustaining compliant fintech infrastructure.”

Strong made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2019 as “Smart.” On the convention, the corporate demonstrated its small enterprise banking-in-a-box providing that included a checking account, funds, invoicing, playing cards, and point-of-sale options. The corporate rebranded as Strong final yr as a part of a pivot to focus on the fashionable banking platform that they had used to launch their Smart enterprise banking answer.

“We went from powering the Smart app to powering different merchandise and ecosystems,” Thyagarajan and firm co-founder and President Raghav Lal wrote on the Strong web site final spring. “Alongside the way in which, we realized our model and our positioning wanted to vary, too. And at the moment, we’re making the change and excited to share that Smart is now Strong.”

Strong will use the brand new capital to assist gas the corporate’s accelerated enlargement into what it calls “fintech-ready” verticals like journey, development, healthcare, and the gig economic system. The corporate’s absolutely abstracted fintech-as-a-service platform provides builders the instruments they should simply embed fintech merchandise into their choices. Strong studies that fintech packages that construct and launch on its platform personal the expertise and have little or no regulatory overhead. Strong’s expertise additionally leverages fashionable APIs and a minimal-code strategy to make integration simpler. Corporations which have used Strong’s platform embrace fellow Finovate alums like Paystand, in addition to SaaS firms similar to Everflow and rising startups like Starlight.

Based in 2018, Strong is headquartered in San Mateo, California. This week’s funding brings the corporate’s complete funding to greater than $80 million in keeping with Crunchbase. Strong reported a 10x progress in revenues, buyer base, and transactions processed final yr. Greater than 100 fintech packages and $2 billion in transactions have been processed on the corporate’s infrastructure yr to this point.

Photograph by David Bartus