Miami continues to play a major role in NovoPayment’s success story

By Riley Kaminer

Miami-grown NovoPayment is a top example of the power of our local tech ecosystem.

The fintech startup, which launched in 2007, has developed an API-based banking-as-a-service platform that unlocks digital banking, payment, and card solutions for incumbent and up-and-coming firms alike.

For example, merchants and marketplaces leverage NovoPayment’s infrastructure to provide bank-like services such as instant payments and the ability for clients to securely keep their cards on file. Another example: providing depository services that enable foreign customers to open a US denominated bank account and receive a Visa signature card.

Last April, NovoPayment raised a $19 million Series A co-led by Miami investor Fuel Venture Capital and IDC Ventures, a Copenhagen-based fund with a significant Miami footprint.

“We are truly a Miami-based fintech infrastructure company,” co-founder and CEO Anabel Perez told Refresh Miami. “We have expanded across Latin America from Miami,” noting that the company is now active in 15 markets.

As Miami is recognized as a gateway to the Americas – and a gateway to the US for foreign firms – NovoPayment too acts as a connector, enabling Latin American companies will the financial and payment infrastructure they need to bring their business to the next level. This role is critical in Latin America’s hyper fragmented financial ecosystem, with NovoPayment enabling firms from across the region to interact with each other.

NovoPayment now boasts over 50 clients, 33% of whom are part of the largest financial conglomerates in Latin America – the group that controls the lion’s share of monetary flows throughout the region. NovoPayment now has 365 employees across the Americas, with about 17 employees located in Miami.

“We are very focused on growth but in a healthy, steady way,” Perez said. “We are very committed to maintaining and improving our fundamentals,” she continued, acknowledging that the startup is now focused on delivering services in their existing markets and increasing the impact they provide to their existing clients.

Bucking the trend of fintechs that unbundle products, NovoPayment has started to rebundle their products to serve specific consumers’ needs – helping clients better attract and retain their end consumers. “You could build an entire neobank using our infrastructure,” asserted Perez.

“When we started NovoPayment, there were probably less than five fintechs in Miami,” said Perez. “Now there are not only more fintechs, but also investors and global talent here.” Perez highlighted the collaborative nature of Miami startups as a particular selling feature of our local tech scene. Still, Perez believes that “there is a lot of room to continue to elevate Miami’s presence in the global tech ecosystem.”

Looking forward, Perez signaled that NovoPayment will stay along its path of connecting Latin America in a similar way that Miami International Airport serves Latin America. “Our view is to have a more relevant presence to work at the intersection of the data and money between multiple carriers. That’s why we want to truly become an even bigger, reliable, accessible infrastructure player connecting the Americas.”

From left to right: Oscar J Garcia (General Counsel), Silvia Piedra (Chief Talent Officer), Rama Ituarte (Chief Technology Officer), Juan José Barriola (Chief Financial Officer), Angelique Strauss (Chief Growth Officer), Anabel Perez (Co-founder & CEO).

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Riley Kaminer

I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.