Brim Financial closes $85-million Series C led by EDC to fund US expansion

Toronto-based FinTech startup Brim Financial has secured $85 million CAD in Series C financing.

The all-equity, all-primary round, which closed in March and was announced today, was led by Export Development Canada, with participation from Vistara Growth and existing backers White Owl Group, Epic Ventures, and Zions Bank.

Brim plans to use this capital to fuel its United States (US) expansion. The firm intends to expand its US presence, invest in product development, form “strategic alliances,” and expand its 112-person team to 150 over the next six months to support these goals.

Brim’s Series C marks a big round amid tough market conditions, especially for FinTech.

Founded in 2017, Brim is a certified credit card issuer that sells technology infrastructure to help other financial institutions—including banks, FinTech firms, credit unions, and large companies—launch and run their own credit card and loyalty programs for their customers more efficiently.

Since its $25-million CAD Series B round three years ago, Brim has inked partnerships with Mastercard and TrueNorth and rolled out its credit-card-as-a-service platform to clients like Laurentian Bank, Western Canada’s Affinity Credit Union, Canadian Western Bank, and Air France-KLM.

Brim also cracked Deloitte’s 2023 Technology Fast 50 list of Canada’s fastest-growing tech companies in the number 20 spot. According to Brim, its Series C round comes “on the back of strong revenue growth, increasing market share, and expansion into the business and commercial segments.” A Brim spokesperson told BetaKit that the company has grown its revenue tenfold over the past three years.

“Brim has all the elements for success—an innovative product, rapid growth, and a visionary management team,” EDC senior vice president Guillermo Freire said in a statement.

The startup’s Series C financing marks a sizeable round amid challenging fundraising market conditions, especially for FinTech firms. The Brim spokesperson declined to disclose the company’s latest valuation but claimed Brim’s Series C was a “very significant up round” relative to its Series B round, which valued the firm at close to $100 million, according to The Globe and Mail.

Brim already has a presence in the US, where it serves mid-market banks and works with Mastercard and TrueNorth.

“Expanding into the US market and further into North America is a natural next step for Brim,” the Brim spokesperson added. “Ultimately, we want to globally revolutionize and modernize the way the world thinks about credit by providing premium customer experiences that are digital-first with multiple options for payment (including mobile) that save money for consumers, and drive efficiencies for issuers.”

In a statement, Brim founder and CEO Rasha Katabi indicated that the company’s product roadmap involves focusing on platform automation and integrating open banking capabilities.

UPDATE (04/10/24): This story was updated to note new information and commentary BetaKit received from a Brim spokesperson.

Feature image courtesy Brim Financial.