Marqeta has completed a $260 million Series E fundraise, led by Coatue Management, valuing the business at nearly $2 billion.

The card issuing platform will use the money to accelerate its expansion plans, both domestically and in key global markets.

The round saw participation from several new investors, including Vitruvian Partners, Spark Capital, Lone Pine Capital and Geodesic. They join existing investors Visa, ICONIQ, Goldman Sachs, 83North, Granite Ventures, CommerzVentures and CreditEase.

The global market for card issuing volume is over $45 trillion, according to recent Edgar, Dunn & Company research, with new entrants disrupting a space traditionally dominated by big banks. Marqeta’s payments platform is part of this shift to capture consumer and business deposits, lending volume and card payment activity.

“We are building Marqeta as a generational business and have the opportunity to accelerate our vision for a better global payments and digital banking infrastructure that will remain a relevant part of the ecosystem for decades to come”

“We are in the midst of a transformation in card issuing around the globe,” said founder and chief executive Jason Gardner. “When today’s innovators are in need of modern payment solutions, they aren’t turning to banks as their primary issuers anymore and want a platform built for their needs.”

He added: “This investment puts us in prime position to round out our product vision, bring Marqeta to new geographies, build even more groundbreaking features for our customers and double down on our already aggressive growth trajectory.”

Founded in 2010, Marqeta’s open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow a new generation of businesses to build innovative payment programs and experiences, allowing companies like Square and Instacart to customise payment cards to meet the needs of their customers.

It has 300 employees and has recently expanded internationally, opening a European office headquartered in London.

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