Rapyd launches Rapyd Ventures; an investment arm to propel digital commerce and payment Innovation

By Pavithra R

Rapyd, a global FinTech as a Service company has announced the launch of Rapyd Ventures, its new venture arm that will focus on investing in early and growth-stage businesses that are delivering the next wave of financial services innovation.

The new investment arm will be led by Joel Yarbrough, MD of Rapyd Ventures and Rapyd’s VP of Asia Pacific. It will largely work with startups after their Seed round and through Series B funding that have a unique market and customer insights and are expanding on existing market traction.

“The innovations that we are seeing in the payments industry are not evenly distributed. We believe we have a mission and responsibility to support companies building both the infrastructure for next generation financial services, as well as innovators building on top of these new capabilities around the world, and to accelerate their development. Joel’s intimate understanding of the global Tech industry and his vast insight and experience in payment technology makes him the ideal person to lead our new venture arm. He knows where the industry is headed and how to build the technology necessary to get there. Just as he has pushed Rapyd forward, we are confident he can do the same for others in this space and the entire digital commerce ecosystem,” said Arik Shtilman, CEO and co-founder of Rapyd.

Besides capital, Rapyd Ventures will also provide access to its extensive Fintech-as-a-Service capabilities and network of partners, offering startups strategic advice and giving them opportunities to move faster, expand quickly, and accelerate their growth. The venture arm will look at 2 types of projects:

• Capability providers who deliver core infrastructure in areas where the market is going, including identity and risk management, faster and seamless money movement and embedded financial services;
• End-user platforms that directly provides innovative financial services to consumers and businesses around the world.

“We are engaging with entrepreneurs around the world to create the enabling infrastructure for next-generation financial services and bring to the market new fintech products that create opportunities for individuals, small, and large businesses to transact with lower friction, more quickly, safely, and in new ways. We believe that ‘FinTech’ will be built into all types of services, and we want to help bring to life a network of innovators and a rich set of new payment, identity, open banking, and embedded finance capabilities to make it happen,” said Joel Yarbrough, MD of Rapyd Ventures and VP of Asia Pacific.

Founded in 2016, Rapyd is a trading name of CashDash UK Limited. The company offers FinTech-as-a-Service platform with various local payment methods and services. Its solution portfolio includes collect, disburse, wallet and issuing.