Rapyd targets Miami expansion as it eyes global growth

Dive Brief:

Payments service provider Rapyd has launched the $100 million Miami Tech Initiative, waiving fees for 20 companies based in, or relocating to Miami for up to $5 million dollars per company. So far, about fifty companies have responded to the offer, but the company was mum on when and who will win the free service.
Rapyd’s Miami initiative comes on the heels of a n increase in the company’s valuation, which doubled from $1.2 billion in December 2019 to about $2.5 billion in January 2021.
While the Israeli company Rapyd is currently focusing its efforts in Miami, the company plans to expand this initiative elsewhere, and an executive hinted that there would be “unique” developments coming soon to the Middle East.

Dive Insight:

Rapyd, which specializes in global payments and related services such as fraud identification, is partnering with the city of Miami for the $100 million Miami Tech Initiative promotion. The Tel Aviv-based company, which has had an office in Miami since 2018, said in a press release last month that it will waive payment service fees up to $5 million for 20 companies located in or relocating to Miami.

The initiative is being rolled out as a pilot program as the Florida city seeks to add to its luster as a tech hot-spot. As far as Rapyd's offer, that has the potential to be expanded in other locations too, said Eric Rosenthal, Rapyd's vice president of corporate development and partnerships. He didn't have any details on that expansion at this time.

This is the first time that Rapyd has launched such a program and it's focused on making sure it goes smoothly. “We will likely do something similar in other cities,” said Rosenthal.

Rapyd's move follows a large increase in its valuation over the past two years. The company doubled its valuation from $1.2 billion to $2.5 billion, after raising $300 million in January.

Rapyd's pitch to companies is: Let us take on your complicated payments processing tasks so you can focus on your own core business proposition.

Rapyd, founded in 2014, has about 300 employees. Rosenthal said that because the company raised money before the beginning of the pandemic, the company didn't have to make any workforce cuts. Founded in Israel, Rapyd expanded globally, with offices now in the United States, Mexico, Britain, Iceland and Singapore.

Rosenthal declined to comment on the company's annual revenue, but said Rapyd saw increased interest from corporations looking to accelerate their digitization after the pandemic led to strict lockdowns in some regions.

Rapyd’s competition tends to be local providers in whatever country Rapyd is working in, but the edge Rapyd brings is the ability to streamline the payments service in multiple countries, Rosenthal said.

The company is developing a KYC, or “know your customer,” service for some markets that could aid its clients in verifying identities and thwarting fraud.

When asked about future plans for global expansion, Rosenthal hinted at plans for the Middle East, but wouldn't elaborate. “We’ll be doing some stuff in the Middle East that’s quite unique,” he said.