Pismo raises $108m Series B led by SoftBank, Amazon and Accel to globally enable Cloud-Native financial services
By Edlyn Cardoza
Pismo, the cloud-native core banking, and payments platform, recently announced a $108 million Series B fundraising round, led by SoftBank, Amazon and Accel with participation from B3, Falabella Ventures and PruVen and existing investors and Headline and Redpoint ventures. The funding will fuel the company’s global expansion and accelerate the development of market-leading technologies for banking, payments, and financial markets infrastructure.
The financial services industry is undergoing significant technological transformation, and consumers are increasingly demanding more innovative products and frictionless experiences. Pismo has developed a cloud-native core processing platform that gives banks, FinTechs, and other financial institutions flexibility and agility. Its unique all-in-one platform allows Pismo customers to rapidly launch products for cards and payments, digital banking, digital wallets, and marketplaces. In addition, it allows financial institutions to take charge of their core data and use it intelligently.
Founded in 2016 by four experienced tech entrepreneurs in Brazil, Pismo has already attracted some of the biggest banks, FinTechs, and retailers in Latin America as customers, including Banco Itaú, BTG, Cora, N26 and Falabella. The platform handles more than 4 billion API calls monthly, making it one of the biggest financial cloud-based platforms in the world. The Pismo platform hosts more than 25 million accounts which together transact more than $3 billion a month.
“With the widest product coverage in the market and cutting-edge technology adopted at scale, Pismo is now ready for a new phase of growth. On the back of this funding round, we will build further on the momentum and scale we already have in LATAM, and accelerate international expansion,” says Ricardo Josua, co-founder and CEO at Pismo. “We have enabled our clients to launch and manage some of the most innovative products in the market, and we are just getting started. We are hiring over 200 engineers and world-class product, commercial, and management talent to lead banking and payment disruption all around the world.”
“Ever since we embarked on our global expansion program in Europe, Asia, and North America earlier this year, we have seen significant interest in the platform and client momentum which is already being translated into commercial momentum,” says Vishal Dalal, CEO (North America, Europe, and Asia) at Pismo. “This funding round will turbo-charge our aspirations globally, including the addition of three offices: in Austin, Texas; Bristol, United Kingdom; and in Singapore. We’re thrilled about building our footprint and customer base in these new regions.”
“We are very excited to invest in Pismo. We believe they have a very talented team uniquely positioned to reinvent the technology behind banking, payments, fintech, and commercial transactions. The founders are outstanding and have great ambitions to make Pismo a truly global company,” says Alex Szapiro, Head of Brazil and Operating Partner at SoftBank.
“We believe Pismo is the foundational fintech platform for LATAM, and now with a new influx of funding, the rest of the world,” said Ethan Choi, partner at Accel. “LATAM is in the early innings of its unprecedented fintech revolution and we’re thrilled to support Pismo in enabling more innovative services and greater financial inclusion in the region, as well as taking its core banking and payments capabilities far and wide.”
Several investors will also designate members to join the Pismo board of directors, in addition to the Pismo founders who are already on the board— Ricardo Josua, Daniela Binatti, Juliana Motta, and Marcelo Parise.
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