Lithic, a New York-based fintech startup, has raised $60 million in a Series C funding round to continue protecting customer’s privacy when making online purchases.
The funding round was led by growth equity firm Stripes and counted with the participation of Bessemer Venture Partners, Tusk Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Exor, Commerce Ventures, and Rainfall ventures. According to Bloomberg, the round quintupled the startup’s valuation to $800 million while increasing the total funding raised since being founded in 2014 to $115.4 million.
Formerly known as Privacy.com, the startup rebranded back in May of 2021 when it shifted its business strategy while keeping its same mission to provide consumers with control over their online purchases but extending the feature to developers via an API.
Lithic co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Bo Jiang expressed in an interview with Bloomberg that the current process to issue credit or debit cards is not only expensive but also archaic, which is why the company is developing technology to facilitate the process while sharing it with other developers-
With digital payments becoming more important for people around the world, platforms that protect consumer privacy and gives them control over their transactions are sure to see an increase in demand. Saagar Kulkarni, a partner at Stripes, referred to this trend by stating:
“Card issuing is the next big frontier in fintech as companies of all shapes and sizes begin to understand the power of highly configurable virtual and physical cards. Lithic makes it incredibly easy for developers to build on the card rails, and we are only scratching the surface of use cases that will emerge over time.”
The fintech startup is only one of the growing number of companies benefiting from the increased funding the sector has experienced over the past few years as institutional investors of all types and sizes turn their eyes to emerging businesses.
