Back to the Press Room
Published at

Melio Named To 2021 CB Insights Fintech 250 List of Top Fintech Startups

Melio recognized for achievements as one of the most promising startups in the financial payments space

CB Insights today named Melio, a leading B2B payments platform for small businesses, to the fourth annual Fintech 250, a prestigious list of emerging private companies working on groundbreaking financial technology. This year’s list was unveiled on stage at CB Insights’ Future of Fintech conference in New York City. 

“This is the fourth class of the Fintech 250, and it’s also the most international, representing 26 countries.  These 250 fintech startups are attacking an incredibly diverse array of financial services opportunities across 19 sectors, including digital banking, insurance, payroll, retail investing, and more,” said CB Insights CEO Anand Sanwal. “After being named to the CB Insights Fintech 250 last year, the 2020 class saw 17 companies go public and 25 get acquired. They also went on to raise over $25B in additional financing and forged more than 380 new partnerships after being recognized. The Fintech 250 has a history of spotlighting the very best fintech companies, and this year is no different. We’re excited to see how these fintech startups disrupt and transform financial services in the years ahead.”

“2021 has been a year of rapid growth for Melio and we are honored to be recognized as one of the Fintech 250 startups, along with so many other innovative companies,” said Melio CEO and co-founder Matan Bar. “Our smart payments platform is tailor-made for small businesses needs and is transforming the way small businesses gain control over their finances, which has been especially critical in the last year.”

Through an evidence-based approach, the CB Insights Intelligence Unit selected the Fintech 250 from a pool of over 17,000 companies, including applicants and nominees. They were chosen based on several factors, including data submitted by the companies, company business models and momentum in the market, and Mosaic scores, CB Insights’ proprietary algorithm that measures the overall health and growth potential of private companies.

Last month, Melio announced it had raised an additional $250 million – tripling the company’s valuation to $4 billion. Melio’s smart payment platform is built for financial institutions, software providers and marketplaces interested in enabling B2B payments for their customers. In addition, Melio also opened its western headquarters in Denver in order to support its explosive growth.

Fintech 250 2021: Investment Highlights

  • Unicorns: 118 of the 250 companies (47%) are valued at or above $1B as of their latest funding round
  • Funding trends: In 2021 year-to-date (YTD), these 250 private companies have raised $40.3B in equity funding across 275 deals (as of 9/14/21)
  • Mega-rounds: Since 2020, there have been 178 mega-round ($100M+) equity investments to this year’s Fintech 250, with 138 of them in 2021 YTD
  • Global representation: 36% of the 2021 Fintech 250 are based outside the US. After the US, the UK is home to the most Fintech 250 companies (25), followed by India (12). This year’s winners are based in 26 countries, including France, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, and Nigeria.
  • Top VC investor: Ribbit Capital is the most active investor in this year’s Fintech 250 companies, having invested in 62 deals since 2016. Since 2019, Ribbit has participated in 41 deals with this cohort of companies, including to Nubank, Uala, Brex, Vouch, Razorpay, and BharatPe. Tiger Global Management and Accel were close behind with 57 and 55 deals, respectively.