Singapore fintech Nium plans aggressive expansion in Europe

Singapore fintech Nium plans aggressive expansion in Europe

LONDON — Nium, a $2 billion digital funds start-up based mostly out of Singapore, has huge plans for its European enterprise.

The corporate, whose software program helps companies handle flows of cash throughout borders, is in talks to make an acquisition price as much as $400 million to drive an expansion in the continent, CEO and co-founder Prajit Nanu informed CNBC.

“Europe is a very big business for us,” Nanu, who’s now based mostly in San Francisco, stated in an interview in London. The agency is in discussions to purchase an enterprise-focused funds enterprise price “anything between $20 million to $400 million,” he added.

Out of its 1,000-person international workforce, Nium presently has about 150 workers based mostly in Europe, and plans to rent an extra 100 over the following 12 months, Nanu stated.

The corporate is on observe to generate round $150 million in annual international revenues this 12 months, with between $80 million and $90 million of gross sales coming from Europe, in line with Nium’s CEO.

It is a comparatively little-known title in the world of fintech, however Nium is rising quick. The corporate not too long ago reached a $2 billion valuation and has attracted some notable buyers, together with Visa and Singapore’s state funding agency Temasek.

The beginning-up competes with each banking incumbents in addition to different fintech corporations, like Britain’s Clever and Australia’s Airwallex. It counts fellow fintechs Currencycloud — which was purchased by Visa final 12 months — and Transfergo as shoppers.

Crowded market

Europe’s fintech sector is fiercely aggressive, with privately-held start-ups price tens of billions of {dollars} vying to steal market share from incumbent banks. Klarna, the purchase now, pay later fintech, was last valued at $46 billion, while payment firms Checkout.com and Revolut are now worth $40 billion and $33 billion, respectively.

But Nium’s CEO is betting there’s plenty of room for start-ups like his, which focuses on handling payments for businesses rather than consumers.

Nium’s European division accelerated over the past year, thanks in part to the acquisition of Ixaris, a London-based firm that issues virtual payment cards for the travel industry. The deal was fortunately timed, Nanu says.

“We had the audacity to buy a travel payment company before vaccines even became a thing,” he said, adding Nium gave Ixaris a term sheet as far back as January 2021. The first Covid-19 shot was administered in the U.K. in December 2020.

When deal talks began, Ixaris was processing £15 million ($18.8 million) in transaction volume and making £100,000 in revenue, Nanu said. Fast forward to March 2022 and the company is now doing £400 million in volume and just under £6 million of revenue, he added.

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