Top Payments Startups in 2027

In 2006, we at Adyen had a vision: We wanted to create a platform capable of meeting the rapidly evolving needs of today's fast-growing global businesses with the goal of helping small businesses grow. Our platform enables merchants to accept payments in a single system, enabling revenue growth online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. We love to help people achieve our dreams, so let us do the same for you!

Merge is a fintech that is merging stablecoins and instant payment rails in one API. Backed by world-class investors, we aim to accelerate cross-border commerce through global banking and payment services for global businesses.

Payhawk is the leading global spend management solution for scaling businesses, present in more than 32 countries across two continents. Our customer-centric organisation and the product-oriented team have helped disrupt the expense management market, by combining company cards, expenses and invoice payments - enabling finance teams to control and automate company spending at scale. The Payhawk customer base includes fast-growing and mature multinational companies including LuxAir, Gtmhub, and Wagestream. With offices in New York, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam and Sofia; Payhawk is backed by renowned investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greenoaks, QED Investors, Earlybird Digital East, and Eleven Ventures. Our values include supporting flat hierarchies, taking ownership and responsibility, seeking and providing feedback, managing constructive critique, and speaking our minds. We understand that the best ideas don’t all come from the same place, so we encourage diversity and inclusion in all areas of our work.

Method has built the most modern way to connect to consumer financial accounts. Combining real-time liability connectivity with instant payment execution, Method’s API is designed to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they want to use. We have helped 45+ million users connect 350+ million liability accounts credential-less and processed over $2.5B in payments, helping users save millions in interest. One in every three credit cards in the United States is in the Method ecosystem and leading financial institutions like SoFi, Bilt, Cleo, Sezzle, Figure & Aven rely on our APIs to build magical experiences for millions of consumers. We’re a team of 50+ people spread across offices in Austin, SF, New York City, and Washington D.C! We’re excited to continue the momentum working alongside our investors and advisors from Andreessen Horowitz, Emergence Capital, Y Combinator, Avra, and Ardent. To learn more about us, check out our blog!

Lively is the modern HSA experience built for those seeking stability in the ever-shifting and uncertain healthcare landscape. Lively is committed to helping every HSA maximize its potential through intuitive design, accessible support, and ongoing education.

Pepper is the operating system for the independent food distributor, the $1T industry we all rely on to feed us every day. Our customers are the family-owned, regional, and specialty wholesalers feeding the restaurants in your neighborhood. We're the category leader, and we just closed a $50M Series C and are backed by Lead Edge, ICONIQ, and Greylock. Our latest agentic products handle the messy and manual workflows that the industry has run on for decades. Pepper is growing quickly, and you'll grow with us!

Venmo was founded in 2009 by two former college roommates who wanted a better way to pay each other back. What started off as a simple SMS platform to send and receive money has evolved into a social payments app allowing people to split bills, pay each other back for rent, and make purchases at approved merchants - all the while making these life stories more fun and less awkward.

Construction is an industry built on change. With each new project, we change skylines, strengthen communities, and transform cities for the better.‍ But the reality isn’t always so simple. Between compliance and change orders, false starts and permit delays, the construction industry has a paperwork problem—especially when it comes to getting paid.‍ Cash flow is the lifeline of any contractor’s business, but billing is painful and slow. With so much manual work involved, a small, honest mistake can hold up millions of dollars in cash flow. And even when things go right, the time and effort it takes to get paid takes away from the work that really matters. We believe that when you free up payments, you free up people to take on whatever’s next. We started Siteline to give construction teams a financial foundation to build on. Because when people are on the same page about getting paid, they can focus on whatever's next—whether that’s a new idea, a new project, or more time with their family. We’re reimagining construction finance to help contractors get paid, grow their business, and build a better future for all of us.

Founded in March 2010, Zipmark has been a FinTech startup focused on simplifying business payments through a SaaS application. Now, we're building a new platform called OpenTransact to address specific pain points for merchants. Our target customers are Merchant Acquiring Banks and Payment Facilitators all over the world - credit cards, debit cards, PayPal and Bitcoin.