The fintech industry welcomed a new unicorn yesterday after the Orlando, Florida-based payments company Stax announced a $245 million series D round, valuing the business at more than $1 billion.
Cofounded by CEO Suneera Madhani and her brother Sal Rehmetullah in 2014, Stax is a subscriptions-based payments processor that charges merchants a flat subscription fee rather than a percentage on sales for both in-person and digital transactions.
Over the past eight years, the 300-person company has processed $23 billion in payments for more than 20,000 customers across retail, professional services, and health care.
With its new valuation—backed by investors Greater Sum Ventures, HarbourVest Partners, and Blue Star Innovation—Stax plans to go “head-to-head” with Stripe (like many fintech rivals promise to do).
