Fintech M&A: Marqeta scoops up rival Power Finance for $223m in cash

Fintech card issuing platform Marqeta is paying $223m in cash to acquire a two-year-old rival fintech company Power Finance.

The acquisition will allow Marqeta customers to launch a wide range of credit products, according to the company.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023 with one-third of the price payable over a two-year period and $52m in cash subject to a milestone expected to be achieved within the next 12 months. 

Power Finance was founded just two years ago in early 2021 by CEO Randy Fernando and CFO Andrew Dust. 

Fernando will now lead the product management of Marqeta’s credit card platform.

Investors include Anthemis, Fin Capital, CRV, Dash Fund and Restive Ventures.  

The company is a cloud-native platform offering credit card program management for other companies. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Power team and product to Marqeta. We already see considerable demand for differentiated credit products from companies looking to innovate in this space who are held back by the constraints of legacy technology,” said Simon Khalaf, incoming CEO at Marqeta. 

“We thoroughly examined possible acquisitions to more quickly establish Marqeta’s leadership in the modern credit space. It became clear to us that Power would strengthen Marqeta’s platform with a best-in-class tech stack for credit card program management.”

Khalaf was Marqeta’s chief product officer (CPO) until last week when he took up the role as its new CEO, taking over from the company’s founder long-term CEO Jason Gardner who is the company’s new executive chairman.