Amsterdam, Netherlands · StartupAdyen is a global payments technology company headquartered in Amsterdam that provides a single platform for accepting payments across online, in-store, and mobile channels. Listed on Euronext Amsterdam since 2018, Adyen serves major enterprise customers including Spotify, Uber, eBay, and Microsoft. The company processes hundreds of billions of euros annually and is one of Europe's most valuable public tech companies, with a market capitalization that has exceeded $50 billion. Adyen's end-to-end approach, combining gateway, risk management, processing, and acquiring in one platform, has made it the payments infrastructure of choice for global enterprises.
StartupLate StageFintechPayments
Amsterdam, Netherlands · Startupbunq is an Amsterdam-based digital bank founded in 2012 by Ali Niknam, a serial entrepreneur who self-funded the company with EUR 40 million of his own capital. bunq holds a full European banking license from the Dutch Central Bank and offers personal and business accounts with features like multi-currency support, real-time budgeting, automated savings, and fee-free international transfers. The bank has attracted over 12 million users and reached profitability, with a reported valuation of EUR 1.6 billion. bunq differentiates itself through its user-centric philosophy and sustainability focus, planting trees for every EUR 100 spent by users. It is one of the few European neobanks built without initial venture capital backing.
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London, United Kingdom · StartupCheckout.com is a London-headquartered payments infrastructure company that provides a unified API for online payment processing, supporting card payments, local payment methods, and payouts across 150+ currencies. The company serves enterprise merchants including Klarna, Coinbase, Sony, and Grab, and was valued at $40 billion at its peak in 2022. Checkout.com competes directly with Adyen and Stripe in the enterprise payments space.
StartupLate StageFintechPayments
St. Moritz, Switzerland · Event OrganisatorOrganizer of the Crypto Finance Conference, an exclusive invitation-only event held in St. Moritz since 2018. The intimate gathering brings together 200+ crypto fund managers, blockchain founders, and institutional investors for high-level discussions on digital assets, DeFi protocols, and regulatory frameworks shaping the future of decentralized finance.
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Vienna, Austria · AcceleratorThe corporate venture capital entity of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), focusing on fintech and other innovative startups relevant to banking.
AcceleratorSeed to Series AFintechBankingVenture Capital
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupKlarna is a Swedish fintech company that pioneered the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) model globally. Founded in 2005 by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson, Klarna started by offering online shoppers in Sweden a way to purchase goods on invoice (pay after delivery). Over the next decade, the company expanded across Europe and beyond, becoming a dominant online payments provider. As of 2021, Klarna was Europe’s highest-valued private tech company at $45.6 billion, reflecting meteoric growth fueled by consumers’ appetite for installment payments. Klarna’s app and services allow users to split purchases into interest-free installments or pay later, and it partners with over 450,000 retailers worldwide, including global brands like H&M, IKEA, and Nike. The company has over 150 million users across 45 countries and handled $80 billion in transaction volume in 2021. Klarna’s journey, however, has seen dramatic swings: after reaching a $45B valuation in mid-2021, a combination of rising interest rates and tech market downturn led to a downround in 2022, cutting its valuation to $6.7 billion (an 85% drop). The company restructured, laying off 10% of its staff, and refocused on profitability. By 2023, Klarna returned to profit and saw renewed growth, aided by expanding beyond BNPL into a full shopping app with price comparison, loyalty features, and banking services (Klarna obtained a banking license in Europe in 2017). In 2025, Klarna reportedly delayed an IPO amid market volatility but ultimately went public in September 2025, raising $1.37 billion. Despite valuation fluctuations, Klarna remains the global leader in BNPL, with a strong brand among Gen Z and millennial shoppers. Its journey from a small Stockholm startup to a financial giant serving 65 million customers (2025) at one point valued at $75 billion exemplifies the rise (and resiliency) of Europe’s fintech sector.
StartupLate StageFintechPayments
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