Based in London, Currencycloud sells payment software for banks and fintech firms to process their international transactions.
Currencycloud counts Visa as a strategic investor, Laven said, and has partnered with the payments network to provide its clients access to Currencycloud's technology. The firm also works with a number of so-called challenger banks in the U.K. — including Revolut, Monzo and Starling — which have racked up millions of users who bank with them using only an app and debit card.
"Their end-user customers, for the most part, will never see that we're there," Laven said. "We're a piece of embedded finance in the tech stack. It's not as sexy, but it's an incredibly good business." One of the company's products, Spark, lets clients collect, store, convert and pay in 35 currencies.
Though his business is not yet in the black, Laven said "we could get there with the current round if we decided to," but that it had more room to grow before becoming profitable. "Our emphasis right now is not on profitability, our emphasis is on the strength of our offering and an expansion into other markets," he said.
The company's largest market currently is Europe, Laven said, while it has been increasingly investing in North America and is now looking to expand into Asia, where fintech has seen significant adoption rates. In China, for example, mobile wallets like Alipay and WeChat Pay have become commonplace, with many Chinese consumers using their phones to pay for things.
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