Highnote Valuation, Funding & Investors

Highnote is valued at $750M as of January 2025.

Last Highnote valuation

$750M

Series B · Jan 2025

Last Highnote funding round

$90M

Series B · Jan 2025

Cumulative funding Highnote raised

$194M

across 5 funding rounds

Key investors in Highnote

  • Oak HC/FT
  • Costanoa Ventures
  • Westcap
  • Adams Street Partners
  • XYZ Venture Capital
  • SVB Capital

Highnote Overview

About Highnote

Highnote is a San Francisco-headquartered embedded finance platform enabling digital companies to integrate virtual and physical payment cards, ledgers, and wallets. Launched in 2022, it supports prepaid, debit, credit, and charge products for B2B and consumer applications, processing billions in volume for fintech clients.


Founded

2020

HQ

United StatesSan Francisco, CA

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Usage-based

Valuation

$750M (Jan 2025)

Highnote Valuation

Highnote is currently valued at $750M, based on its Series B in January 2025.

The $90M round was led by Adams Street Partners and Omega Venture Partners, with participation from Oak HC/FT, Pinegrove Capital Partners, Costanoa Ventures and Westcap.

Highnote valuation by funding round

Highnote valuation by funding round
DateStageValuation
Jan 2025Series B$750M

Highnote Funding History

Highnote has raised a total of $194M across 5 funding rounds.

Highnote's first fundraising round was a $12M seed round in October 2020. The most recent completed round was a $90M Series B in January 2025.

Highnote funding rounds

Highnote funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
Jan 2025Series BAdams Street Partners (lead); Omega Venture Partners (lead); Oak HC/FT; Pinegrove Capital Partners; Costanoa Ventures; Westcap$90M$750MHighnote is a San Francisco-based embedded finance platform specializing in modern card issuance, program management, and unified payments solutions that enable businesses to integrate virtual and physical card payments, ledger, wallet functionalities, and now acquiring capabilities into their products via a single API-driven system. The platform supports full pay-in and pay-out functionality on a unified core general ledger, certified by major US card brands, reducing operational complexities and costs for vertical platform providers and next-generation customers. Highnote closed a $90 million Series B funding round in January 2025, led by Adams Street Partners with participation from existing investors Oak HC/FT, Costanoa Ventures, WestCap, and Pinegrove Venture Partners (some sources report amount raised as ~$109M in amended filing). This round values the company at over $750 million post-money, bringing total funding raised to over $145 million across five rounds, including prior seed and $43M Series A in 2021. The capital supports expansion into U.S. merchant acquiring, scaling technology, and enhancing the embedded finance platform. Alongside the funding, Highnote launched its acquiring solution, offering customizable plug-in checkout for online card payments with direct integration to payment networks for enhanced data access. CEO John MacIlwaine highlighted the opportunity in embedded acquiring to accelerate customer growth. Investors like Adams Street praised Highnote's transformational platform, impressive growth trajectory, and positioning in the large, expanding embedded finance market amid limitations of traditional issuing platforms. The company, founded around 2020, targets B2B embedded payments and is backed by ten investors total.
Jun 2022Undisclosed stage-$25M-Highnote is a San Francisco-based FinTech company founded in 2019, specializing in card issuing and embedded payments for businesses, offering a unified platform that integrates issuing, acquiring, credit, and money movement. Investors in earlier rounds included Oak HC/FT and Costanoa Ventures. Highnote's later Series B in January 2025 raised approximately $100-109M (with a $25M extension), achieving a $750M valuation led by Adams Street Partners and Omega Venture Partners, used for U.S. merchant acquiring expansion and embedded finance enhancements. The company has grown to over 200 employees and focuses on enterprise growth, launching features like Instant Payments, stablecoin funding, and integrated credit. Customers such as Netevia committed billions in annual acquiring volume, and Ferry implemented real-time payments. The platform positions Highnote competitively in embedded finance against rivals, with strong capital efficiency noted at 4.79x valuation-to-capital-raised as of 2025.
Dec 2021Undisclosed stage-$25M-Highnote is a San Francisco-based fintech company providing an embedded payments platform focused on card issuing, program management, and acquiring services for enterprises and B2B platforms. Founded by John MacIlwaine (former Braintree GM at PayPal) and Kin Kee, it enables SMEs to embed financial services like instant credit issuance and full-stack acquiring to compete with larger players. In late 2021, Highnote raised approximately $50-54M in combined seed and Series A funding led by Oak HC/FT and Costanoa Ventures, with participation from WestCap, XYZ, SVB Capital, and angels like Bill Ready (Google) and Renaud Laplanche (Upgrade). Funds supported scaling product/engineering teams, platform expansion, global growth, and market entry. Highnote continued growth with additional $25M convertible note in June 2022 and a $90-109M Series B in January 2025 led by Adams Street Partners at over $750M valuation, bringing total raised to $139-233M. The 2025 round funded U.S. merchant acquiring expansion and embedded finance enhancements, with 50+ enterprise customers and strong developer adoption. Competitive context positions Highnote as a leader in modern embedded finance, earning Forbes Fintech 50 recognition, with backers confident in its unified payments platform for internal/vendor/customer transactions.
Sep 2021Series ACostanoa Ventures (lead); Oak HC/FT (lead); SVB Capital; XYZ Venture Capital; Renaud Laplanche; Bill Ready; Westcap$43M--
Oct 2020SeedOak HC/FT (lead)$12M-Highnote raised $11.5 million in its seed round in October 2020, led by Oak HC/FT. The funds were used to develop and launch its virtual payment platform. Oak HC/FT is a venture and growth equity firm focused on healthcare and financial technology. Highnote is a San Francisco-based fintech company founded in 2019, specializing in card issuing and embedded payments for businesses. The company has raised a total of over $233 million across multiple rounds, with subsequent funding including a Series A of $42.6 million in September 2021 led by Costanoa Ventures and Oak HC/FT, and later Series B rounds reaching valuations over $750 million in 2025.

Who has invested in Highnote?

10 investors have backed Highnote across its funding rounds, including Oak HC/FT, Costanoa Ventures, Westcap, Adams Street Partners, XYZ Venture Capital and SVB Capital.

Lead investors include Adams Street Partners, Omega Venture Partners, Costanoa Ventures and Oak HC/FT.


Highnote Investors

Investors in Highnote by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
Oak HC/FTUnited StatesGreenwich, CT3LeadOct 2020
Costanoa VenturesUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA2LeadSep 2021
WestcapCanadaCanada2ParticipantSep 2021
Adams Street PartnersUnited StatesChicago, IL1LeadJan 2025
SVB CapitalUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantSep 2021
XYZ Venture CapitalUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantSep 2021
Renaud LaplancheUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantSep 2021
Omega Venture PartnersUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1LeadJan 2025

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Highnote Competitors

Highnote competitors include listed companies like Worldline, Fawry, Marqeta and Paysafe, and private ones like Lithic and slice.

Public and private companies comparable to Highnote
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
LithicUnited StatesNew York City, NYPrivate--$800M-
WorldlineFranceFrancePublicly listed$4.6B($5.2B)$887M0.7x
FawryEgyptEgyptPublicly listed$166M$73M$1.2B5.2x
sliceIndiaBangalorePrivate$100M-$450M-
MarqetaUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$625M$14M$1.6B1.4x
PaysafeUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$1.7B$341M$327M1.5x

Highnote Public Comps

Highnote is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Sunyard Technology, Cuscal, Worldline, Jiangsu Tongxingbao, AMTD Digital, Abaxx Technologies, PensionBee, Optasia, Currenc Group and Bakkt.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Sunyard Technology$307M$10M2.2x-69.2x-
Cuscal$297M$22M5.1x5.8x67.8x24.6x
Worldline$4.6B($5.2B)0.6x0.7x(0.6x)3.8x
Jiangsu Tongxingbao$159M$47M2.7x-9.2x-
AMTD Digital$59M$18M19.5x-62.9x-
Abaxx Technologies$749K($28M)600.9x136.9x(16.1x)(10.0x)
PensionBee$57M($5M)6.6x5.5x(81.4x)107.9x
Optasia$265M$79M4.3x3.6x14.5x9.1x

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Common questions about Highnote

When was Highnote founded?Highnote was founded in 2020.
Where is Highnote headquartered?Highnote is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States.
Is Highnote publicly listed?No, Highnote is a private, VC-backed company.
What is Highnote's valuation?Highnote was last valued at $750M in its Series B in January 2025.
How much funding has Highnote raised?Highnote has raised $194M across 5 funding rounds.
What was Highnote's last funding round?Highnote's last funding round was a $90M Series B in January 2025, led by Adams Street Partners and Omega Venture Partners.
Who are Highnote's investors?Highnote's investors include Oak HC/FT, Costanoa Ventures, Westcap, Adams Street Partners, SVB Capital, XYZ Venture Capital, Renaud Laplanche, Omega Venture Partners, Bill Ready and Pinegrove Capital Partners.
Which companies are comparable to Highnote?Companies comparable to Highnote include Lithic, Worldline, Fawry, slice, Marqeta and Paysafe.

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