Radar · Payments in California
Best Payments Companies in California, United States
The 750 best Payments companies in California, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Stripe.
By Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
750companies tracked
$23.3Bdisclosed funding
12unicorns
329have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · PAYMENTS × CALIFORNIA
Our analysis of 50 Payments companies
$20.7b in tracked funding; 100% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
50companies analysed
100%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
15unicorns
2017median founding year
2.4Mcombined LinkedIn audience
78%of audience held by top 3
3companies hiring publicly (12 mo)
Ranked: Best Payments companies in California
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stripe 🦄 Provider of financial infrastructure solutions for revenue growth and payment processing 93Patents top 10%Market top 11%Innovation top 17%Funding top 17% All 13 signals ▾Patentstop 10% Markettop 11% Innovationtop 17% Fundingtop 17% Moattop 18% Customerstop 20% Partnerstop 22% Producttop 24% Globaltop 25% Techtop 30% Growthtop 38% Newstop 39% Talenttop 48% Patents: 677 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 592 filings since 2022 vs 83 in 2017-21 Market: 5,904 employees (top 3% of Payments) · Top-10,000 web property rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 93/100 | $9.8B | 26 mo ago | Series I | 5,904 | John Collison Co-Founder & President | Cart FunctionalitySentryApple iCloud Mail+17 | 677 patents Online payment processing, fraud detection, and identity/authentication services for digital commerce | 1 launch |
| 2 | Airwallex 🦄 Provider of multi-currency business accounts, global payments, and spend management 89Funding top 18%Tech top 20%Talent top 22%Growth top 24% All 13 signals ▾Fundingtop 18% Techtop 20% Talenttop 22% Growthtop 24% Innovationtop 25% Producttop 26% Moattop 26% Partnerstop 28% Globaltop 30% Markettop 34% Newstop 34% Customerstop 37% Fin. healthtop 49% Funding: Raised $1.1B across 14 rounds · 14 rounds over 10 yrs (1.4/yr) Tech: 87 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 89/100 | $1.1B | 6 mo ago | Series G | 1,400 | Jacob Dai Co-Founder & CTO | SentryZendeskApple iCloud Mail+41 | — | 1 launch |
| 3 | Bolt 🦄 Provider of single-click checkout solution for e-commerce businesses | $947M | 53 mo ago | Series E | 385 385 → 802 (+108%) | Ryan Breslow Co-Founder & CEO | Cart FunctionalityApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+32 | 21 patents Wearable therapeutic electrical muscle stimulation with optical muscle density sensing and presentation synchronization tools | — |
| 4 | Tipalti 🦄 Cloud-based procurement and invoice management solutions for businesses 76Funding top 16%Moat top 26%Tech top 29%Market top 30% All 11 signals ▾Fundingtop 16% Moattop 26% Techtop 29% Markettop 30% Growthtop 38% Talenttop 38% Producttop 41% Globaltop 42% Innovationtop 46% Newstop 46% Customersbottom 39% Funding: Raised $553M across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 12 yrs (0.7/yr) Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 9/10 · Unicorn rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 76/100 | $553M | 8 mo ago | Series F | 288 | Oren Zeev Co-Founder & Chairman | WordPress Site EditorWordPressMySQL+22 | — | — |
| 5 | Petal Provider of credit cards designed to help users build credit | $298M | 34 mo ago | Acquired | 164 | Jason Gross Co-Founder & CEO | SentryZendeskApple iCloud Mail+22 | — | — |
| 6 | Feedzai 🦄 Provider of an AI-native platform for fraud and financial crime prevention 92News top 15%Funding top 16%Product top 21%Moat top 26% All 12 signals ▾Newstop 15% Fundingtop 16% Producttop 21% Moattop 26% Markettop 28% Growthtop 29% AItop 30% Techtop 31% Globaltop 31% Innovationtop 32% Talenttop 38% Partnerstop 40% News: 8 BI events in 12 mo (of 24 tracked, 5 types) · +700% YoY Funding: Raised $282M across 6 rounds · 6 rounds over 15 yrs (0.4/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 92/100 | $282M | 8 mo ago | Series E | 597 | Pedro Bizarro Co-Founder & CSO | WordPressApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+24 | — | — |
| 7 | PayNearMe Provider of platform facilitating payment acceptance, disbursement, and management services 78Funding top 19%Innovation top 31%Market top 34%Moat top 34% All 6 signals ▾Fundingtop 19% Innovationtop 31% Markettop 34% Moattop 34% Patentstop 35% Globaltop 49% Funding: Raised $213M across 11 rounds · 11 rounds over 17 yrs (0.6/yr) Innovation: 21 patents (top 23% of patent-holders) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 78/100 | $213M | 9 mo ago | Series E | 242 | — | — | 21 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | 1 partnership |
| 8 | Finix Provider of payment solutions and tools for businesses and platforms | $208M | 19 mo ago | Series C | 118 | Richie Serna Co-Founder & CEO | WebflowApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+23 | — | 1 launch · 2 partnerships |
| 9 | AtoB Provider of fleet cards, spend management, and instant payment solutions | $205M | 20 mo ago | Series C | 44 | Vignan Velivela Co-Founder & CEO | WebflowSentryZendesk+35 | — | — |
| 10 | Sift 🦄 Provider of an AI-powered platform for fraud detection and prevention 67Funding top 20%Product top 21%Moat top 32%Tech top 38% All 11 signals ▾Fundingtop 20% Producttop 21% Moattop 32% Techtop 38% Talenttop 38% Markettop 41% AItop 45% Growthtop 47% Innovationbottom 49% Globalbottom 39% Patentsbottom 36% Funding: Raised $161M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 28 yrs (0.3/yr) Product: 4 distinct product lines · Company stage: Series D rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 67/100 | $161M | 8 mo ago | Series D | 167 167 → 269 (+61%) | Jason Tan Co-Founder | WordPressMySQLMariaDB+35 | 4 patents Real-time fraud detection and risk scoring using predictive analytics and network security | — |
| 11 | Aven 🦄 Credit cards backed by home equity for consumers 78Funding top 18%Customers top 21%Moat top 23%Tech top 29% All 13 signals ▾Fundingtop 18% Customerstop 21% Moattop 23% Techtop 29% Producttop 30% Growthtop 35% Patentstop 35% Innovationtop 37% Talenttop 38% Markettop 41% Partnerstop 41% Globalbottom 39% Newsbottom 14% Funding: Raised $142M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 2 yrs (1.0/yr) Customers: Play-Store rating 4.66★ across 6,072 ratings (2 apps) · Review volume +98% in 6 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 78/100 | $142M | 9 mo ago | Series E | 52 | Collin Wikman Co-Founder & Head of Design | SentryZendeskSalesforce+24 | 18 patents Secure, location‑aware, transient compute for payment card and digital signature verification | 1 launch |
| 12 | Tribal Credit Virtual credit cards for corporates | $140M | 32 mo ago | Series B | 400 | Bill Crawley Co-Founder | WebflowApple iCloud MailAmazon Web Services+18 | — | — |
| 13 | PayZen AI medical billing software for healthcare professionals and organizations | $101M | 22 mo ago | Series B | 78 | Ariel Rosenthal Co-Founder & CTO | WordPressMySQLRedis+37 | — | — |
| 14 | Quantifind Developer of an AI platform for financial crime risk management 74AI top 8%Funding top 20%Talent top 22%Moat top 31% All 12 signals ▾AItop 8% Fundingtop 20% Talenttop 22% Moattop 31% Globaltop 37% Growthtop 40% Producttop 41% Markettop 48% Techbottom 49% Innovationbottom 44% Patentsbottom 44% Newsbottom 21% AI: Classified as an agentic-AI company Funding: Raised $91.9M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 17 yrs (0.5/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 74/100 | $92M | 17 mo ago | Series D | 68 68 → 129 (+90%) | John Stockton Co-Founder | WordPressVisual ComposerApple iCloud Mail+28 | 17 patents Distributed data analytics and causal impact tools for marketing and ad optimization | 1 partnership · 2 awards |
| 15 | appcharge Provider of payments and direct-to-consumer monetization solutions for mobile games 80Growth top 15%News top 23%Funding top 24%Tech top 28% All 8 signals ▾Growthtop 15% Newstop 23% Fundingtop 24% Techtop 28% Talenttop 37% Moattop 40% Globaltop 42% Marketbottom 49% Growth: Web rank 5,000,000 → 100,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo News: 7 BI events in 12 mo (of 9 tracked, 3 types) · +250% YoY rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 80/100 | $89M | 10 mo ago | Series B | 21 | Roei Barassi Co-Founder | WebflowCart FunctionalityApple iCloud Mail+25 | — | 1 job opening |
| 16 | Finexio Provider of accounts payable automation and payment processing solutions for businesses | $84M | 18 mo ago | Series B | 94 | — | Webflow EcommerceWebflowApple iCloud Mail+20 | — | — |
| 17 | Cardless Credit cards for consumers 53Funding top 22%Customers top 23%Tech top 31%Moat top 31% All 11 signals ▾Fundingtop 22% Customerstop 23% Techtop 31% Moattop 31% Talenttop 38% Producttop 40% Partnerstop 45% Growthbottom 47% Marketbottom 38% Globalbottom 37% Newsbottom 28% Funding: Raised $60.1M across 7 rounds · 7 rounds over 7 yrs (1.0/yr) Customers: Play-Store rating 4.66★ across 1,791 ratings (1 apps) · Review volume +669% in 6 mo rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 53/100 | $60M | 8 mo ago | Series C | 32 32 → 72 (+125%) | Michael Spelfogel Co-Founder & President | Node.jsMUIReact+21 | — | — |
| 18 | Atlas Prepaid card for modern explorers | $59M | 18 mo ago | Series B | 36 | Patrick Mrozowski Co-Founder & CEO | SentryZendeskApple iCloud Mail+12 | 3 patents Decision-support and forecasting software for economic development analytics. | — |
| 19 | Highnote Card issuing processing solution for businesses | $54M | 18 mo ago | Series B | 121 | Kin Kee Co-Founder & CTO | Cart FunctionalitySentryZendesk+20 | — | — |
| 20 | Citcon Payment gateway solutions for accepting multiple payments | $50M | 21 mo ago | Series C | 35 35 → 71 (+103%) | Chuck Huang CTO | WordPressMySQLPHP+28 | — | 1 launch |
| 21 | Thatch Provider of health cards for employees for health benefits 40Funding top 26%Tech top 31%Moat top 38%Talent top 38% All 6 signals ▾Fundingtop 26% Techtop 31% Moattop 38% Talenttop 38% Globalbottom 37% Marketbottom 27% Funding: Raised $43.6M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 3 yrs (1.0/yr) Tech: 36 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon S3, Amazon Web Services rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 40/100 | $44M | 14 mo ago | Series B | 8 | Adam Stevenson Co-Founder | SentryApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+22 | — | — |
| 22 | Parker Provider of business expense card solutions for e-commerce businesses | $37M | 19 mo ago | Series B | 37 | — | ContentfulNode.jsTailwind CSS+30 | — | 1 job opening |
| 23 | WeTravel Online platform for organizing group trips 78Tech top 19%Funding top 27%Talent top 28%Growth top 35% All 9 signals ▾Techtop 19% Fundingtop 27% Talenttop 28% Growthtop 35% Producttop 40% Markettop 42% Moattop 42% Newstop 49% Globalbottom 39% Tech: 67 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Cloudfront, Amazon Web Services Funding: Raised $34.0M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 8 yrs (0.4/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 78/100 | $34M | 9 mo ago | Series C | 158 | Johannes Koeppel Chief Product Officer / Co-Founder | SentryApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+30 | — | 1 launch |
| 24 | Payabli Payment processing solutions for corporates and merchants | $32M | 12 mo ago | Series B | 33 | Joseph Phillips Co-Founder & Co-CEO | WordPressApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+30 | — | — |
| 25 | Felix App-based conversational payment platform for individuals | $26M | 15 mo ago | Series B | 19 | Manuel Godoy Co-Founder | WebflowApple iCloud MailSvelte+26 | — | — |
| 26 | MagicCube Device security solutions for IoT applications 37Talent top 28%Funding top 31%Growth top 35%Moat top 37% All 11 signals ▾Talenttop 28% Fundingtop 31% Growthtop 35% Moattop 37% Producttop 49% Innovationbottom 44% Patentsbottom 44% Newsbottom 42% Globalbottom 39% Techbottom 32% Marketbottom 23% Talent: Analyst team rating 5/5 · 2 named leaders on record Funding: Raised $25.7M across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 11 yrs (0.5/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 37/100 | $26M | 1 mo ago | Series B | 15 | Nancy Zayed Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer | PrismicYouTubeAmazon Web Services+13 | 11 patents Patents concentrated in electrical & electronics | — |
| 27 | ZODL E Commerce Jobs Developer of a mobile wallet focused on private cryptocurrency transactions 42Funding top 31%Talent bottom 49%Global bottom 48%Tech bottom 43% All 4 signals ▾Fundingtop 31% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 48% Techbottom 43% Funding: Raised $25.0M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) Talent: 1 named leader on record · 1 C-suite/founder profile curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 42/100 | $25M | 3 mo ago | Seed | — | Josh Swihart Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+21 | — | — |
| 28 | Badge Online payment solutions for businesses 55Funding top 28%Talent top 28%Patents top 29%Innovation top 35% All 9 signals ▾Fundingtop 28% Talenttop 28% Patentstop 29% Innovationtop 35% Moattop 38% Techtop 42% Growthtop 45% Marketbottom 35% Globalbottom 35% Funding: Raised $17.1M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) Talent: 4 named leaders on record · 4 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 55/100 | $17M | 3 mo ago | Series A | 20 | Tyler Jones Co-Founder & Head of Engineering | WebflowVimeoAmazon Web Services+26 | 54 patents Biometric public‑key authentication with privacy‑preserving, revocable credential mechanisms | — |
| 29 | Torpago 🦄 Software-based platform for corporate cards and spend management solutions | $17M | 11 mo ago | Series B | 31 | Brent Jackson CEO & Founder | WordPressBugHerdMySQL+25 | — | — |
| 30 | Vori Provider of grocery point of sale and store operations software 57Tech top 27%Talent top 28%Funding top 30%Growth top 35% All 7 signals ▾Techtop 27% Talenttop 28% Fundingtop 30% Growthtop 35% Moattop 39% Marketbottom 32% Globalbottom 32% Tech: 53 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon S3, Amazon Web Services Talent: 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 57/100 | $15M | 1 mo ago | Series B | 19 | Robert Pinkerton Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer | Cart FunctionalityWebflowQuill+34 | — | — |
| 31 | AppTech Corp Banking as a service platform for banks | $14M | 18 mo ago | Public | 23 | — | WordPressApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+25 | — | — |
| 32 | MoneyHash Payment gateway solutions for businesses | $14M | 16 mo ago | Seed | 26 | Anisha Sekar Co-Founder | Framer SitesReactstyled-components+21 | — | 2 partnerships |
| 33 | Efex Cross-border payment platform for businesses 27Talent top 38%Funding top 39%Tech top 45%Global bottom 37% All 5 signals ▾Talenttop 38% Fundingtop 39% Techtop 45% Globalbottom 37% Marketbottom 23% Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated Funding: Raised $10.6M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 4 yrs (0.2/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 27/100 | $11M | 5 mo ago | Seed | 10 | Dimitri Zaninovich Co-Founder & CEO | Node.jsAnimate.cssReact+14 | — | — |
| 34 | Natural Developer of payment processing solutions for interactions between agents and businesses | $10M | 7 mo ago | Seed | — | Eric Wang Co-Founder | Three.jsTailwind CSSVercel+5 | 2 patents Biodegradable cardstock formulations for sustainable paper products | — |
| 35 | Skyfire Provider of platform enabling AI agents to conduct payments and identity | $8M | 19 mo ago | Seed | — | Craig DeWitt Co-Founder | WordPressMySQLPHP+18 | 12 patents Patents concentrated in electrical & electronics | 1 partnership |
| 36 | Clerq Diversified payment acceptance solutions for businesses | $8M | 9 mo ago | Series A | 6 | — | SentryAtlassian StatuspageTailwind CSS+9 | — | — |
| 37 | Mesta Provider of global payment solutions for businesses | $8M | 8 mo ago | Seed | — | Nitin Shrivastava Co-Founder & Product & Partnership | — | — | — |
| 38 | PopID Provider of face and palm biometric identity verification gateway solutions | $5M | 15 mo ago | Series B | 3 | John Miller CEO | Apple iCloud MailGoogle WorkspaceZoho+13 | 4 patents Biometric facial authentication for payments and secure entry systems | 1 launch |
| 39 | Pinch AI-based job matching platform for tech industry | $5M | 5 mo ago | Seed | — | Chirag Vaya Co-Founder | WebflowAmazon Web ServicesGSAP+15 | — | — |
| 40 | Car IQ In-vehicle payment solutions for commercial fleets 37News top 24%Product top 31%Growth top 32%Funding top 34% All 10 signals ▾Newstop 24% Producttop 31% Growthtop 32% Fundingtop 34% Moattop 48% Techtop 49% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 38% Marketbottom 32% Customersbottom 7% News: 6 BI events in 12 mo (of 8 tracked, 3 types) · 4 high-value events (IPO/M&A/funding/contracts) in 12 mo Product: 4 published apps (4.2k installs) · Company stage: Acquired rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 37/100 | $5M | 10 mo ago | Acquired | — | Sterling Pratz Founder & CEO | WebflowGSAPSplide+21 | — | — |
| 41 | Loop Crypto Provider of cryptocurrency payment solutions | $4M | 9 mo ago | Seed | 4 | Eleni S. Co-Founder & CEO | Cart FunctionalitySentryReact+15 | — | — |
| 42 | Astrada Provider of cloud-based payments solutions for businesses 29Funding top 40%Talent bottom 49%Global bottom 33% All 3 signals ▾Fundingtop 40% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 33% Funding: Raised $3.8M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) Talent: 1 named leader on record · 1 C-suite/founder profile curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 29/100 | $4M | 1 mo ago | Seed | — | Salman Syed CEO | — | — | — |
| 43 | Payment Labs International payments solutions for businesses | $3M | 9 mo ago | Seed | 16 | Ronak Desai Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer | Apple iCloud MailGoogle WorkspaceNode.js+23 | 2 patents Real-time payment default risk analytics and contactless information reader technologies | — |
| 44 | Flex Online marketplace for the purchase of products and services related to fitness and nutrition | $3M | 9 mo ago | Series A | — | Sam OKeefe Co-Founder & CEO | Framer SitesReactKnockout.js+21 | 44 patents Innovative menstrual hygiene products—cups, discs, and flushable devices with unique release mechanisms. | 2 partnerships |
| 45 | Flagright AI-native compliance and risk management platform for financial services organizations, providing an… | $3M | 14 mo ago | Seed | 25 | Baran Ozkan Cams Co-Founder & CEO | WebflowWordPressMySQL+28 | — | 2 job openings |
| 46 | Paygentic Provider of payments and billing infrastructure solution for AI applications | $2M | 7 mo ago | Seed | — | Susan O’Neill Co-Founder & CEO | — | — | 1 launch · 1 partnership |
| 47 | Endclose Provider of continuous reconciliation and exception management software for payments | $500K | 5 mo ago | Seed | — | Sean Bolton Co-Founder & CEO | — | — | 1 launch |
| 48 | Maven Provider of payment infrastructure enabling voice artificial intelligence agent transactions | $500K | 5 mo ago | Seed | — | Brandon Boehme Co-Founder | — | 18 patents High-throughput optical bioassays and microarray imaging for ligand binding and diagnostics | — |
| 49 | Sponge Provider of financial infrastructure enabling agent accounts and direct business sales | $500K | 5 mo ago | Seed | — | Rishab Luthra Co-Founder | — | — | 2 launchs |
| 50 | ZeroSettle Provider of tools enabling developers to bypass platform fees for subscriptions | $500K | 5 mo ago | Seed | — | Ryan Elliott Co-Founder | Cart FunctionalityGoogle Font APIjsDelivr+4 | — | — |
Top 12 Payments companies in California
#1
Series G · San Francisco, California · founded 2015 · 1400 employees$1.1Braised▾
Series G · San Francisco, California · founded 2015 · 1400 employees
Provider of multi-currency business accounts, global payments, and spend management. The company offers solutions for business accounts, global transfers, corporate cards, and expense management. It provides APIs and embedded finance options, including programmatic account creation, multi-currency account management, and global payment acceptance. The company also offers tools for invoicing, subscription management, and usage-based billing.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 89how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 18%Tech
top 20%Talent
top 22%Growth
top 24%Innovation
top 25%Product
top 26%Funding: Raised $1.1B across 14 rounds · 14 rounds over 10 yrs (1.4/yr) · Last round Series G (Dec 2025)
Tech: 87 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare · Devops: Envoy, Varnish
Talent: Analyst team rating 5/5 · 4 named leaders on record · 4 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Audience (LinkedIn): 179k LinkedIn followers — 7.4% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Dec 2025Series G$330M
- May 2025Series F$150M
- Mar 2023Series F$200M
- Oct 2022Series E$100M
Founders & team
Investors
Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Mastercard, Hillhouse, Horizons Ventures, Salesforce Ventures
Tech stack
Alpine.JsAmazon Web ServicesApple Icloud MailBabelBackbone.JsCloudflare
#2
Tipalti 🦄Series F · Foster City, California · founded 2010 · 288 employees$553Mraised▾
Tipalti 🦄
Series F · Foster City, California · founded 2010 · 288 employees
Cloud-based procurement and invoice management solutions for businesses. The company offers solutions such as financial and compliance risk, PO matching, VAT compliance, payment reconciliation, automated TAX complaince, corporate cards, expense management, procurement, ERP integrations, and more.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 76how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 16%Moat
top 26%Tech
top 29%Market
top 30%Growth
top 38%Talent
top 38%Funding: Raised $553M across 8 rounds · 8 rounds over 12 yrs (0.7/yr) · Last round Venture Debt (Sep 2025)
Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 9/10 · Unicorn · 10 curated direct competitors tracked
Tech: 51 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon Alb, Amazon S3 · Devops: Envoy
Audience (LinkedIn): 66k LinkedIn followers — 2.7% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
- Sep 2025Venture Debt$200M
- May 2023Conventional Debt$150M
- Dec 2021Series F$270M
- Oct 2020Series E$150M
Founders & team
Investors
Zeev Ventures, Durable Capital Partners, 01 Advisors, Greenoaks, JPMorgan Chase, Hercules Capital
Tech stack
Alpine.JsAmazon AlbAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesAmplitudeApplication Request Routing
#3
Feedzai 🦄Series E · San Mateo, California · founded 2011 · 597 employees$282Mraised▾
Feedzai 🦄
Series E · San Mateo, California · founded 2011 · 597 employees
Provider of an AI-native platform for fraud and financial crime prevention. The platform offers solutions for scam prevention, identity verification, fraud detection, and anti-money laundering compliance. It includes features such as new account fraud prevention, transaction monitoring, and risk management. The platform serves industries including retail banks, payment service providers, and government entities. It helps to ensure trusted digital identity and reduce compliance costs.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 92how this company ranks against its industry peers
News
top 15%Funding
top 16%Product
top 21%Moat
top 26%Market
top 28%Growth
top 29%News: 8 BI events in 12 mo (of 24 tracked, 5 types) · +700% YoY · 8 high-value events (IPO/M&A/funding/contracts) in 12 mo
Funding: Raised $282M across 6 rounds · 6 rounds over 15 yrs (0.4/yr) · Last round Series E (Oct 2025)
Product: 5 distinct product lines · Company stage: Series E
Audience (LinkedIn): 164k LinkedIn followers — 6.8% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
- Oct 2025Series E$75M
- Mar 2021Series D$200M
- Oct 2017Series C$50M
- Oct 2016Series B—
Founders & team
Investors
KKR, Sapphire Ventures, Citi, Citi Ventures, Novabase Capital, Armilar Venture Partners
Tech stack
Amazon SesAmazon Web ServicesApache Http ServerApple Icloud MailCloudflareCloudflare Bot Management
#4
Series B · Sunnyvale, California · founded 2014 · 15 employees$25.7Mraised▾
Series B · Sunnyvale, California · founded 2014 · 15 employees
Device security solutions for IoT applications. It provides IoT security solutions for digital transactions on mobile devices which run locally on the device. Secures digital transactions on mobile devices using a patented software-only platform, which is hardware and OS agnostic. Sensitive data exchange is performed via creating a self-contained, secure environment between devices or the cloud. For every transaction processed, the software runs a device integrity check, creates a secure link between secure container and cloud, then performs remote attestation captures screen input and finally sends the encrypted payload to the secure cloud.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 37how this company ranks against its industry peers
Talent
top 28%Funding
top 31%Growth
top 35%Moat
top 37%Product
top 49%Innovation
bottom 44%Talent: Analyst team rating 5/5 · 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Funding: Raised $25.7M across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 11 yrs (0.5/yr) · Last round Series B (Apr 2026)
Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Funding rounds
- Apr 2026Series B$10M
- Jan 2026Series B$10M
- Oct 2021Series B$15M
- May 2020Series A—
Founders & team
Investors
Azure Capital, EPIC Ventures, Visa, Bialla Venture Partners, Bold Capital Partners, Social Starts
Tech stack
Amazon CloudfrontAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesFancyboxHttp/3Jquery
#5
Series E · Santa Clara, California · founded 2009 · 242 employees$213.2Mraised▾
Series E · Santa Clara, California · founded 2009 · 242 employees
Provider of platform facilitating payment acceptance, disbursement, and management services. The platform increases acceptance rates and drives self-service. It simplifies exceptions to lower the total cost of accepting payments. The platform offers modern and reliable payment experiences.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 78how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 19%Innovation
top 31%Market
top 34%Moat
top 34%Patents
top 35%Global
top 49%Funding: Raised $213M across 11 rounds · 11 rounds over 17 yrs (0.6/yr) · Last round Series E (Sep 2025)
Innovation: 21 patents (top 23% of patent-holders)
Market: 242 employees (top 24% of FinTech)
Audience (LinkedIn): 78k LinkedIn followers — 3.2% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships (incl. PayNearMe) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Sep 2025Series E$50M
- May 2023Series D$45M
- Oct 2019Conventional Debt—
- Apr 2018Series C$19M
Investors
SuRo Capital, August Capital, Khosla Ventures, Maveron, True Ventures, QIC
#6
Sift 🦄Series D · San Francisco, California · founded 1997 · 167 employees$161.2Mraised▾
Sift 🦄
Series D · San Francisco, California · founded 1997 · 167 employees
Provider of an AI-powered platform for fraud detection and prevention. The platform offers solutions for account takeover, payment fraud, chargeback fraud, and policy abuse. It also provides tools for content integrity, dispute management, and identity trust. The platform helps businesses to secure transactions and build trust with customers.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 67how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 20%Product
top 21%Moat
top 32%Tech
top 38%Talent
top 38%Market
top 41%Funding: Raised $161M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 28 yrs (0.3/yr) · Last round Series D (Oct 2025)
Product: 4 distinct product lines · Company stage: Series D
Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 9/10 · IP moat: 4 patents · Unicorn
Audience (LinkedIn): 25k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- Oct 2025Series D$507.2K
- Apr 2021Series D$50M
- Mar 2018Series D$53M
- Jul 2016Series C$30M
Founders & team
Investors
Insight Partners, Union Square Ventures, Stripes, First Round Capital, Y Combinator, Spark Capital
Tech stack
6SenseAosAtlassian StatuspageBricksCdnjsCloudflare
#7
Series B · Palo Alto, California · founded 2015 · 19 employees$15.3Mraised▾
Series B · Palo Alto, California · founded 2015 · 19 employees
Provider of grocery point of sale and store operations software. The system integrates checkout, inventory management, order processing, pricing automation, and loyalty programs into a single platform. It facilitates product ordering, invoice processing, and vendor data synchronization. The software tracks stock levels, monitors cost changes, and manages shelf pricing to maintain margins. It provides reporting tools for monitoring sales performance and inventory movement. The system supports various retail formats including supermarkets, produce markets, and specialty food stores by automating manual tasks and streamlining store workflows.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 57how this company ranks against its industry peers
Tech
top 27%Talent
top 28%Funding
top 30%Growth
top 35%Moat
top 39%Market
bottom 32%Tech: 53 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon S3, Amazon Web Services · Observability: Fullstory, Sentry
Talent: 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Funding: Raised $15.3M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 6 yrs (0.5/yr) · Last round Series B (May 2026)
Audience (LinkedIn): 7k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships (incl. Vental Farm Market (3 locations)) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- May 2026Series B$22M
- Aug 2022Series A$10M
- Aug 2021Seed—
- Mar 2020Seed$150K
Founders & team
Investors
Y Combinator, Mollie Stone's Markets, FactoryHQ, Greylock Partners, E²JDJ, MKT1
Tech stack
AmplitudeCalendlyCart FunctionalityCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCloudflare Browser Insights
#8
Seed · Los Angeles, California · founded 2020$25Mraised▾
Seed · Los Angeles, California · founded 2020
Developer of a mobile wallet focused on private cryptocurrency transactions. The wallet supports shielded transactions and cross-chain payments, aiming to provide enhanced privacy features. It allows users to swap to and from shielded cryptocurrencies and connect to hardware wallets for added security. The wallet does not track user data or collect personal information.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 42how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 31%Talent
bottom 49%Global
bottom 48%Tech
bottom 43%Funding: Raised $25.0M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) · Last round Seed (Mar 2026)
Talent: 1 named leader on record · 1 C-suite/founder profile curated
Global: Investors from 1 country beyond United States
Funding rounds
- Mar 2026Seed$25M
Founders & team
Investors
Cypherpunk, Paradigm, a16zcrypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase, Chapter One
Tech stack
Amazon SesAmazon Web ServicesCloudflareContentsquareCookieyesCore-Js
#9
Aven 🦄Series E · Burlingame, California · founded 2019 · 52 employees$142Mraised▾
Aven 🦄
Series E · Burlingame, California · founded 2019 · 52 employees
Credit cards backed by home equity for consumers. It can be used for services such as online/offline purchases, money transfers, bill payments, and more. Users can register by home & identity verification, identity verification, eSigning the documents, and more.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 78how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 18%Customers
top 21%Moat
top 23%Tech
top 29%Product
top 30%Growth
top 35%Funding: Raised $142M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 2 yrs (1.0/yr) · Last round Series E (Sep 2025)
Customers: Play-Store rating 4.66★ across 6,072 ratings (2 apps) · Review volume +98% in 6 mo · Marquee-customer mentions: top 30% of tracked companies
Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 9/10 · IP moat: 18 patents · Unicorn
Audience (LinkedIn): 13k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches · 1 awards announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Sep 2025Series E$110M
- Jul 2024Series D$142M
Founders & team
Investors
Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Caffeinated Capital, Electric Capital, Founders Fund, The General Partnership
Tech stack
Amazon AlbAmazon CloudfrontAmazon S3Amazon SesAmazon Web ServicesBootstrap
#10
Series C · San Francisco, California · founded 2019 · 32 employees$60.1Mraised▾
Series C · San Francisco, California · founded 2019 · 32 employees
Credit cards for consumers. It provides customers with a reward-based payment card that can be used at any online or offline purchase, featuring various cashback and offers. It offers a Cardless app, where consumers can track purchases, make payments, and select multiple rewards.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 53how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 22%Customers
top 23%Tech
top 31%Moat
top 31%Talent
top 38%Product
top 40%Funding: Raised $60.1M across 7 rounds · 7 rounds over 7 yrs (1.0/yr) · Last round Series C (Sep 2025)
Customers: Play-Store rating 4.66★ across 1,791 ratings (1 apps) · Review volume +669% in 6 mo
Tech: 36 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare, Vercel · Devops: Envoy
Audience (LinkedIn): 10k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Sep 2025Series C$60M
- Nov 2024Series B$30M
- May 2023Venture Debt$75M
- Jul 2021Series B$40M
Founders & team
Investors
Activant Capital, Accomplice, Pear VC, i80 Group, Industry Ventures, Thayer Ventures
Tech stack
CdnjsCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsDatadogEmotion
#11
Series A · San Francisco, California · founded 2023 · 20 employees$17.1Mraised▾
Series A · San Francisco, California · founded 2023 · 20 employees
Online payment solutions for businesses. It helps companies automate community engagement using mobile wallets.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 55how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 28%Talent
top 28%Patents
top 29%Innovation
top 35%Moat
top 38%Tech
top 42%Funding: Raised $17.1M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 1 yrs (2.0/yr) · Last round Series A (Feb 2026)
Talent: 4 named leaders on record · 4 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Patents: 54 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 35 filings since 2022 vs 19 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Audience (LinkedIn): 4k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- Feb 2026Series A$13.8M
- Seed$3.3M
Founders & team
Investors
TTV Capital, Stripe, Synchrony, Infinity Ventures, QED Investors
Tech stack
Amazon S3Amazon Web ServicesCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCloudflare TurnstileCore-Js
#12
Stripe 🦄Series I · San Francisco, California · founded 2010 · 5904 employees$9.8Braised▾
Stripe 🦄
Series I · San Francisco, California · founded 2010 · 5904 employees
Provider of financial infrastructure solutions for revenue growth and payment processing. It offers tools designed for individual or combined use to grow businesses. These tools enable payment acceptance and optimisation globally, both online and in person. The company facilitates various billing models and provides access to borderless money movement. It also offers resources for startups and platforms to build and scale their operations.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 93how this company ranks against its industry peers
Patents
top 10%Market
top 11%Innovation
top 17%Funding
top 17%Moat
top 18%Customers
top 20%Patents: 677 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 592 filings since 2022 vs 83 in 2017-21 · Latest publication 2026
Market: 5,904 employees (top 3% of Payments) · Top-10,000 web property · Unicorn (valued $70.0B)
Innovation: 677 patents (top 3% of patent-holders) · 592 filings since 2022 vs 83 in 2017-21 · 6 new-product events in 24 mo
Audience (LinkedIn): 1.5M LinkedIn followers — 63.4% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Apr 2024Series I$694.2M
- Mar 2023Series I$6.9B
- Mar 2021Series H$600M
- Mar 2020Series G$631M
Founders & team
Investors
Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Google Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, IGNIA
Tech stack
AlgoliaAmazon CloudfrontAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesApple Icloud MailBootstrap
Funding & investor landscape
$23.3Btotal disclosed funding
305companies funded
834disclosed rounds
4rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Visa13 rounds
Notable founders
Jacob Dai
Co-Founder & CTO · Airwallex
Max Li
Co-Founder · Airwallex
Oren Zeev
Co-Founder & Chairman · Tipalti
Chen Amit
Co-Founder & CEO · Tipalti
Pedro Bizarro
Co-Founder & CSO · Feedzai
Nuno Sebastiao
Co-Founder & CEO · Feedzai
Nancy Zayed
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer · MagicCube
Sam Shawki
Co-Founder & CEO · MagicCube
Jason Tan
Co-Founder · Sift
Marc Friend
CEO · Sift
Robert Pinkerton
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer · Vori
Brandon Hill
Co-Founder & CEO · Vori
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 1,750,783 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Payments coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
RESEARCH IN CALIFORNIA · Finance
How research on Digital Payments in California is moving
A read on the academic research around Digital Payments in California — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 72 papers.
UC Berkeley, Irvine, and Davis lead California's digital-payments research, focusing on financial inclusion and FinTech, with a contested tone—concern papers far outnumber breakthroughs.
72 papers · stance +0.04 · 5% breakthrough · 65% concern
top institutions
- University of California, Berkeley17
- University of California, Irvine13
- University of California, Davis4
- University of California, Santa Cruz4
- University of Southern California4
leading researchers
Bill Maurer · Jonathan Robinson · Shilpa Aggarwal · Valentina Brailovskaya · Joshua Blumenstock · Ketki Sheth
prism intelligence · tone & topics
78% positive · 15% critical tone
FinanceBusinessEconomyHealthcareEconomicsBanking
▲
Breakthroughs3 · 4%
▼ 7%→4% share
▼0.6× share momentum10 median citations33% since 2021mostly methods-led
Counterfeit and computer security research newly rising, but breakthrough field-share shrank from 7% to 4%.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Computer security2
- Monetization1
- Counterfeit1
- Purchasing1
- Internet privacy1
Landmark Priceless · 48 cites
◆
Advancements16 · 22%
▼ 25%→22% share
▼0.9× share momentum2 median citations38% since 2021mostly empirical
Mobile payment research leads advancements with 9 papers, though field-share dipped from 25% to 22%.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Mobile payment9
- Database transaction3
- Incentive3
- Computer security2
- Poverty2
Landmark Examining micro-payments for participatory sensing data collections · 198 cites
▼
Concerns36 · 50%
▲ 43%→56% share
▲1.3× share momentum7 median citations42% since 2021mostly empirical
Concern research intensifying — field-share surged 43% to 56%, with Service (business) emerging at 4 papers and Payment system tripling.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Database transaction1→3
- Payment system1→3
Newly emergingService (business) 0→4
Landmark Social Payments: Innovation, Trust, Bitcoin, and the Sharing Economy · 154 cites
Common questions
How many Payments companies are there in California, United States?
Radar tracks 750 indexable Payments companies headquartered in California, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Payments companies in California, United States?
The Payments companies in California, United States on this list have raised a combined $23.3B in disclosed equity funding across 305 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Payments company in California, United States?
Stripe is the highest-funded Payments company in California, United States, with $9.8B in disclosed equity funding.
How many Payments companies in California, United States are funded?
305 of the 750 Payments companies in California, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Payments unicorns are there in California, United States?
12 Payments companies in California, United States on this list are valued at $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in California, United States Payments companies?
The most active investors in California, United States Payments companies on this list include Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, 500 Global, Commerce Ventures, Visa.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.