US-based payment technology provider Flywire raised $120m yesterday in a series E round led by investment bank Goldman Sachs that supported the acquisition of corporate-backed healthcare cost-management platform Simplee.
The round also featured Tiger Management and Adage Capital Management and it increased Flywire’s valuation to more than $1bn according to Bloomberg.
The company has not disclosed the amount it paid for Simplee, which had raised more than $36m from investors including payment services firm American Express.
Founded in 2011 as PeerTransfer, Flywire operates a vertical-focused, digital cross-border payment service that has processed a total of more than $12bn in payments in areas such as healthcare, education, travel and technology.
Flywire has now raised a total of $262m, having secured $100m in a July 2018 series D round led by Temasek and backed by investment and financial services group Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital unit as well as Bain Capital Ventures.
Bain Capital Ventures took part in the series D round as an existing investor, Flywire’s earlier backers also including JME Ventures, Kibo Ventures, Spark Capital, Devonshire Investors, QED Investors and Accel.
Simplee has built a platform that helps users pay for healthcare, engaging with patients and helping them access personalised medical payment plans.
The acquisition follows $36.4m in funding according to a press release, suggesting Simplee’s $1.8m seed round, which was led by 83 North (then called Greylock IL), was rolled into the $6m series A it closed in 2012 with backing from Social Capital.
Investment firm Heritage Group led Simplee’s $10m series B round in 2013, participating alongside 83 North and Social Capital, before all three joined American Express unit American Express Ventures in a $20m series C three years later.
Mike Massaro, Flywire’s chief executive, said: “Flywire is uniquely built on a global payments network, which is the cornerstone of how we move billions of dollars across 200-plus countries and 150 currencies, and an industry-leading payments platform.
“This digital foundation enables us to develop vertical-specific applications that make payments more efficient and cost-effective for our global clients. The Simplee acquisition improves patient engagement and healthcare affordability and extends these capabilities to a broader customer base.”
