- Companies
- Galileo Financial Technologies
Galileo Financial Technologies Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors
Galileo Financial Technologies was acquired by SoFi for $1.2B in April 2020.
Cumulative funding Galileo Financial Technologies raised
$85M
across 2 funding rounds
Key investors in Galileo Financial Technologies
Accel
Mercato Partners
Ryan Smith
About Galileo Financial Technologies
Galileo Financial Technologies is a U.S.-headquartered fintech platform combining banking infrastructure, payments, lending, and risk management via composable APIs. It serves financial institutions, brands, and fintechs across North America and Latin America in 16 countries with scalable solutions. The company employs over 1700 staff to deliver managed services for custom financial products.
Founded
2001
HQ
Website
Status
Acquired
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Subscription, Usage-based
Valuation
$1.2B (acquired Apr 2020)
Galileo Financial Technologies Acquisition
Galileo Financial Technologies was acquired by SoFi for $1.2B on 7 April 2020.
Before the acquisition Galileo Financial Technologies had raised $85M across 2 funding rounds.
SoFi acquired Galileo Financial Technologies, a Salt Lake City-based financial services API and payments platform, for $1.2 billion in an all-stock and cash deal announced in April 2020. Galileo provided critical infrastructure for the fintech ecosystem, powering digital banking operations for companies including Chime, Robinhood, TransferWise, Revolut, Monzo, and Remitly. The platform processed $53 billion in annualized payment volume in March 2020, having more than doubled from $26 billion in September 2019, and had crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue by March 2020. The deal was structured as $875 million in SoFi shares, $75 million in cash, and $250 million in debt financing, with the SoFi share component valued at $15.41 per share. SoFi CEO Anthony Noto positioned the acquisition as a strategic expansion beyond consumer lending into fintech infrastructure, describing Galileo as the "AWS of fintech." The company had already integrated Galileo's payment platform into SoFi Money, establishing an existing operational relationship. Post-acquisition, Galileo was to operate as an independent subsidiary under CEO Clay Wilkes, continuing to serve as a white-label technology provider for fintech partners while gaining access to SoFi's consumer products including lending, investing, and banking offerings. The acquisition represented a significant exit for early investors, including Mercato Partners' Traverse Fund, which led Galileo's Series A in 2014 with an $8 million investment, yielding approximately a 4x return. For Mercato Partners, Galileo's journey from a bootstrapped API provider to a fintech infrastructure leader demonstrated the value of prioritizing product innovation and organic growth, with the company developing proprietary AI-driven fraud protection that reduced payment fraud losses by 80% compared to industry standards.
| Acquirer | Date | Type | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Apr 2020 | Strategic M&A | $1.2B |
Galileo Financial Technologies Funding History
Galileo Financial Technologies has raised a total of $85M across 2 funding rounds.
Galileo Financial Technologies' first fundraising round was a $8M Series A in May 2014. The most recent completed round was a $77M Series A in October 2019.
Galileo Financial Technologies funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2019 | Series A | Accel (lead); Ryan Smith | $77M | Galileo Financial Technologies, a Salt Lake City-based fintech providing APIs for card issuing, banking products, and payments processing, announced its first institutional funding round on October 17, 2019—a $77 million Series A led by Accel with participation from Qualtrics co-founder and CEO Ryan Smith. The company, bootstrapped and already profitable, processes debit, credit, prepaid, and mobile payments through a single API platform, serving major fintechs like Chime, Robinhood, Monzo, TransferWise, Varo, and Revolut, primarily in neobanks, payments, gig economy, investing, and SaaS segments. As of September 2019, Galileo managed over $26 billion in annual payments volume, up 130% from the prior year. The funding aims to fuel geographic expansion into Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, with a new Mexico City office planned), the UK, and Europe, alongside product development. Galileo differentiates with a variable per-transaction fee model (a few cents each) rather than fixed percentages, powering backend integrations for innovative fintechs. Accel partner John Locke joined the board, highlighting Galileo's parallels to bootstrapped successes like Qualtrics and Atlassian. By March 2020, Galileo reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue (more than doubled year-over-year) and $53 billion in annualized payments volume. The company was acquired by SoFi in April 2020 for $1.2 billion in cash and stock, delivering a 4x return for Accel just six months post-investment. |
| May 2014 | Series A | Mercato Partners (lead) | $8M | Galileo Financial Technologies was founded in 2000 by Clay Wilkes and developed into a leading API-based payments platform serving fintech companies and financial institutions. The company provides the technological infrastructure enabling clients to issue and process payment cards, open and verify financial accounts, and launch financial products. In April 2014, Mercato Partners led Galileo's Series A financing with an $8 million investment. The company subsequently received a $77 million Series A round from Accel in 2019, demonstrating strong growth trajectory over the five-year period between rounds. Galileo demonstrated substantial business momentum in the years leading to its exit. By March 2020, the company processed over $53 billion in annualized payments volume, up from $26 billion in September 2019. The company's client roster included leading fintech platforms such as Chime, Revolut, TransferWise, Monzo, and Remitly, along with both emerging fintech disruptors and incumbent financial services institutions. In April 2020, SoFi acquired Galileo for $1.2 billion in a cash-and-stock transaction. The acquisition reflected the company's position as an essential infrastructure provider within the fintech ecosystem, with Galileo operating as an independent division under founder Clay Wilkes' continued leadership. |
Who has invested in Galileo Financial Technologies?
3 investors have backed Galileo Financial Technologies across its funding rounds, including Accel, Mercato Partners and Ryan Smith.
Lead investors include Accel and Mercato Partners.
Galileo Financial Technologies Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lead | May 2014 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 3 Galileo Financial Technologies investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
Sign up to see data on 350K+ funding rounds and disclosed revenue and EBITDA valuation multiples, from seed, through growth stage, to pre-IPO.
Start Free TrialGalileo Financial Technologies Competitors
Galileo Financial Technologies competitors include listed companies like Optasia and eFinance, and private ones like Open Financial Technologies, Omnio, Lumin Digital and Juni.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publicly listed | $265M | $79M | $1.1B | 3.6x | ||
| Private | - | - | $1B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $130M | $67M | $1.6B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $900M | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.6B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $800M | - |
Galileo Financial Technologies Public Comps
Galileo Financial Technologies is no longer listed, but its public comps include Isracard, Donnelley Financial Solutions, PicPay, Fawry, Shenzhen Sunline, Optasia, Vitec Software, Bravura Solutions, Agibank and Superbank Indonesia.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $1.2B | $48M | 1.9x | - | 49.8x | - | |||
| $767M | $122M | 1.8x | 1.8x | 11.2x | 5.6x | |||
| $1.2B | $205M | 1.0x | 0.5x | 6.0x | 3.8x | |||
| $166M | $73M | 6.8x | 5.2x | 15.4x | 9.6x | |||
| $292M | $14M | 3.7x | 3.1x | 76.1x | 38.5x | |||
| $265M | $79M | 4.3x | 3.6x | 14.5x | 9.1x | |||
| $371M | $151M | 3.7x | 3.5x | 9.1x | 9.0x | |||
| $201M | $55M | 4.9x | 4.9x | 17.9x | 17.0x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Galileo Financial Technologies competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Galileo Financial Technologies
| When was Galileo Financial Technologies founded? | Galileo Financial Technologies was founded in 2001. |
| Where is Galileo Financial Technologies headquartered? | Galileo Financial Technologies is headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, United States. |
| Is Galileo Financial Technologies publicly listed? | No, Galileo Financial Technologies was acquired by SoFi in April 2020. |
| Who acquired Galileo Financial Technologies? | Galileo Financial Technologies was acquired by SoFi in April 2020. |
| How much was Galileo Financial Technologies acquired for? | Galileo Financial Technologies was acquired for $1.2B in April 2020. |
| How much funding has Galileo Financial Technologies raised? | Galileo Financial Technologies has raised $85M across 2 funding rounds. |
| What was Galileo Financial Technologies' last funding round? | Galileo Financial Technologies' last funding round was a $77M Series A in October 2019, led by Accel. |
| Who are Galileo Financial Technologies' investors? | Galileo Financial Technologies' investors include Mercato Partners, Ryan Smith and Accel. |
| Which companies are comparable to Galileo Financial Technologies? | Companies comparable to Galileo Financial Technologies include Optasia, Open Financial Technologies, eFinance, Omnio, Lumin Digital and Juni. |
See companies similar to Galileo Financial Technologies
Start Your
Free Trial Today
Try Multiples for free for 3 days. Got questions or need a demo? Schedule a call with us below.




