Four months ago to the day we changed our name to Railsr. And what a four months it’s been. I’m going to rush you through the highlights now.
Series C - a milestone
Top of the list has to be our just-closed $46m milestone fund raising. I’ve been talking to the media over the last few days and taking them through how tough it is out there for raising money, and how the whole industry is suffering at the moment.
It's testament to the great team and all our stakeholders here at Railsr that we got our round away and it means we can continue to build for the future.
And it’s great to be recognised as a major pioneer within the embedded finance industry. As the report from the management consulting firm Bain & Company states, there’s a great future for embedded finance experiences.
I have a boss
Yes, it's true, I now have a boss and we were so happy to welcome on board Rick Haythornthwaite as our new Chairman. He has one of the best CVs in business and notably was the main board Chairman of Mastercard for 15 years. He led them from a privately held company to the $342 billion market cap public company it is today. He has already contributed so much and we really value his advice and guidance
It's an odd feeling, suddenly having a boss. As a founder, you have an idea, you bring it to the starting blocks, raise money, get people around you and drive the train from the front. You feel the weight on your shoulders. So, it's good to share some of that responsibility now and I’m looking forward to closely working with Rick.
Awards
It was great to see that CB Insights included us in their top 250 list of companies revolutionising fintech throughout 2022.
To be in such company as those named in the list was an honour and it shows the depth of the industry, full of innovation and talent. This sets it up for a very successful future.
Media
We’re fortunate to be well followed by the media and we have made quite a few appearances of late, including:
Nigel Verdon, CEO Railsr, gives his view on how fintechs are tackling the economic downturn
It’s all in the name
The change from Railsbank to Railsr has proved less traumatic than I feared and now the new name is as familiar as the old. Getting the name right is crucial for a company and Railsbank saw us through our formative years.
Railsr has a great feel to it and has gone down well with all of those who deal with us. The name matches our culture and approach to business and life, and I feel confident it will set the tone for years to come.
I took a candid look at the journey from Railsbank to Railsr here.
Events 20/20
The name change was announced at Money 20/20 in Amsterdam way back in June, a great event as always. It was fun to meet our customers and partners in the flesh, and see that the industry was still in good shape. It was especially poignant coming out of the worst of Covid.
And now our team in North America is getting ready for Money 20/20 USA, in Las Vegas, in just a couple of weeks time. Anyone lucky to be over there, please pop by and say hello. Check out here for further details. The team will be happy to talk you through our main product out there, Credit-Card-as-a-Service.
Products
Our product suite was added to with the launch of Rewards–as–a-Service in June. It complements our core embedded experiences. In short, it integrates rewards into our existing card, banking and wallet products. This allows us to offer a one-stop-shop solution for brands wanting to increase customer loyalty and engagement through embedded finance experiences.
Customers/Partners
Despite the tough economic conditions, we have had one of our most successful periods in terms of new customer wins.
Great to welcome such great companies as Maslife and DND Finance. Our customers also responded magnificently to our recent survey.
Elmore, a specialist insurance intermediary, has joined our partnership grouping and is in great company with the likes of AWS, Salesforce, VISA, Mastercard and Plaid.
The Metaverse - what’s in it for us as an industry?
If you’re still struggling to grasp what the Metaverse means for our industry, I was invited to contribute to a major report published by Barclays, called The Power of Payments. Grab a coffee and give our blog a quick read if you have a few minutes. The Metaverse is expanding fast and we need to be ready.
Cricket
Well done to the Railsr cricket team who maybe rashly decided to take on our customer Wagestream, rumoured to be a very competent side when it comes to the sound of leather on willow. Suffice to say we were beaten, although we did put in a brave performance.
I was not picked for the side, as being a former rugby player, the mysterious art of playing cricket is beyond me. I was tempted to raise a rugby union team - we have former England rugby international Will Carling OBE as an advisor after all - but considering our collective ages, it maybe wasn’t such a good idea. I’ll stay on the touch line for now.
Final Word
We all know that the current environment is tough going and that ask ten economists and they’ll give you ten different answers as to when things are going to get better.
We must relentlessly continue our route to profitability, look for M&A opportunities surfaced by the current markets and be confident that markets will turn at some point in the future. However, we must be patient and focus on our playbook for challenging markets.
Here’s to the future.
Nigel Verdon
CEO
Railsr