Helcim hits $150M revenue, raises $53M as banks exit payments

Helcim, the Calgary-based payments processor, crossed $150 million CAD in annual recurring revenue and raised $53 million CAD in Series C funding, capitalizing on a shakeup in Canada's payments infrastructure as the Big Five banks exit merchant processing.

The round was led by the Business Development Bank of Canada's Growth Venture Fund. Credit union-backed Curql Collective, Los Angeles-based Gold House Ventures, and returning backers Headline, Aquiline, Information Venture Partners, Vesey Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, and Alberta Accelerate Fund also participated. The company, which powers payments for small and midsize businesses, was valued at $250 million CAD in the round, up from $97 million at its Series B two years ago.

"There's huge momentum in the business right now, and the market shifted in our favour at the same time," CEO Nicolas Beique wrote in an email to BetaKit. "It felt like the right moment to raise and put capital behind what's already working."

The market shift Beique described reflects a broader restructuring of Canadian payments. TD sold part of its merchant solutions business to Fiserv last year. This month, BMO- and RBC-owned Moneris announced its sale to a U.S. private equity firm. Beique said the Moneris sale and related concerns about Canadian sovereignty boosted inbound calls for Helcim.

The company had been growing quickly before the bank exits. It crossed $150 million in annual recurring revenue last year, Beique said.

Helcim has long criticized "walled-off" payment systems, where a platform restricts access to external payment workflows and promotes its own built-in services as the only option. With the new funding, the company plans to build on its payment extension add-on, which Beique said will give merchants more flexibility and reduce costs.

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