Founder: Jason Gardner (CEO)
Launched: 2010
Headquarters: Oakland, California
Funding: $525 million
Valuation: $4.3 billion
Industry: Payments
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0
The explosive growth in the fintech space shows how many companies are trying to grab business from legacy players. And one of the services they all seem to want to offer is a new, more convenient version of a credit or debit card. That's where Marqeta comes in. The 10-year-old firm provides the tools to companies of all kinds to offer a new, more convenient version of a credit or debit card — cards, wallets and other payment mechanisms. Customers include DoorDash, Instacart, Uber and Affirm.
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The company says the total addressable global market for card payments has reached an astounding $45 trillion and is expected to grow to $80 trillion by 2030. The growth is coming from digital banks and other disruptors that are using Marqeta's card-issuing platform to offer payment programs to their customers, something not even possible just a decade ago.
There was a lot of talk that Marqeta would be going public this year, but an IPO has been put on hold because of the global pandemic. Instead, it raised $150 million in late May, giving it a $4.3 billion valuation. As the pandemic began to unfold, the company was able to react quickly. Its partnership with Square — the company uses Marqeta to power its Cash App — allowed it to help Square disburse stimulus checks to millions of Cash App users faster and easier. In part because of this, Marqeta saw its two largest-ever months in March and April.
