PayFac Forward, a US-based startup specializing in payments as a product services for software companies, has successfully raised $16 million in a seed round co-led by Fiserv, Commerce Ventures, and Elefund.
The funding will enable Forward to meet the growing demand from software partners while integrating artificial intelligence into payment risk functions. “Most software companies get the technical part right but fail to achieve their business goals,” says founder and CEO Brandon Lloyd. “We believe many software companies with ‘integrated payments’ should be generating more revenue, and Forward is here to help them do that.”
For Fiserv, this investment aligns with its strategic push into the embedded finance market, a move first unveiled in October last year. By providing both financing and technology, Fiserv is leveraging Forward’s capabilities to expand and enhance its payment services for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), including managed PayFac services.
Jon Halpern, SVP and head of ISV at Fiserv, stated, “With our expansion into the managed PayFac space, we are making it even easier for our clients to access payment services and go to market faster. Fiserv and Forward are moving the industry into the future with a collective commitment to power the ISV experience.”
The market for integrated payments has seen exponential growth. Ten years ago, less than 10% of credit and debit card volume was integrated with software. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase now forecast that software market share of payments will reach 50% of the US market by 2030.
“We want this seismic shift in the industry to benefit software companies,” says founder and CTO Derek Victory. “Payments should feel like an extension of their brand, not a disjointed hand-off.”
