Nuvei Spends $250m to Purchase Israeli Fintech Company

The Nuvei Corporation, a payment technology company based in Canada, has decided to purchase an Israel-based startup. Simplex is a fintech company, which has made a definitive agreement with Nuvei to sell itself for $250m. 

Simplex was formed to cater to the clearance of cryptocurrency transactions in a safe way. Thus, it devised a secure infrastructure to facilitate these payments. 

The acquisition, as of now, has not been completed. It still requires approval from the regulatory body in Canada before it can carry on with the relevant proceedings. Sources believe that the deal will be closed before the year is out. 

The Israeli fintech startup was founded in the year 2014 by Nimrod Lehavi, the current CEO, Eraz Shapira, the current CTO, and Netanel Kabala, who hold the position of the CIO. As per the IVC, Simplex has successfully raised no less than $18 million, the majority of which came from private investors. The company has around 150 employees in its offices located in Israel, in Givatayim, which is in close proximity to Tel Aviv, as well as in Vilnius, situated in Lithuania. 

Simplex was brought into existence shortly after Lehavi realized that he was unable to carry out the purchase of Bitcoin by using his credit card. The clearing system in place was not equipped to pinpoint his location in Ein Vered, a small village, where he resides. 

Thus, the Israeli fintech company aims to simplify the buying and selling procedure where digital currencies are concerned. Previously, they could take up to three days to go through, as well as banking and bureaucratic approvals. 

By utilizing its risk management and proprietary fraud tools, Simplex aims to facilitate its customers by providing them with a zero-chargeback guarantee. This allows the fintech startup to generate high conversion rates. 

Through this acquisition, Nuvei will be able to secure an electronic money institution (EMI) license, which will enable it to provide IBAN accounts to corporations and end-users. Moreover, the Canadian payment technology company can also offer card issuing and banking facilities. 

In addition, Simplex being a principal member of a functional Visa network has been permitted to issue Visa cards. Therefore, it is able to give customers the chance to access digital currencies on a daily basis. In the previous year, the Israeli company was able to process a total volume of $500 million and has forecasted a figure of over $2 billion for this year. 

CEO and Nuvei Chair, Philip Fayer, talked about this acquisition, saying that the Canadian company expects Simplex to expand and enhance its consistently growing portfolio of various kinds of payment methods. Moreover, by bringing the Israeli fintech startup onboard, it hopes to add turnkey simplicity to the buying and selling of cryptocurrency, as well as converting it to fiat in the user’s account itself.

Nuvei’s main aim is to work on ensuring that there is reduced complexity of financial transactions for consumers and merchants alike. This can be achieved through cooperation with the Canadian company’s Native Commerce Platform and strengthen the overall capabilities and value proposition.