Stripe leads big investment in one-click checkout fintech Fast

Stripe has led a second round of funding for San Francisco-based fintech, Fast, after injecting its first investment into Fast less than a year ago as part of its Series A.

Two-year-old Fast has enjoyed exponential growth in the last year, mirroring the unprecedented growth of its lead investor, who is now reportedly chasing a $100 billion valuation.

Fast CEO Domm Holland

The start-up’s $102 million Series B round, first reported unofficially by The Information back in November, was initially dubbed by reports to potentially reach $200 million.

This prompted speculation that Fast could hit a $1 billion valuation after being valued at just $180 million after its $20 million Series A last year. The fintech has not disclosed any details as of yet regarding its post-round valuation.

Other Fast investors include Susa Ventures, Sugar Capital, Index Ventures, Addition, and Robinhood employee Jaren Glover.

How it works

Fast CEO, Domm Holland, tells CNBC that Fast works a lot like Amazon’s one-click checkout, except it’s more like an “identity network” solution than a payments method.

“It’s one-click checkout for the entire internet,” says Holland. In September, Fast Checkout, the start-up’s universal one-click purchase product for e-commerce, launched.

Alongside Fast Login, it does what it says on the tin – it allows people to buy and merchants to sell, faster.

The products work on any browser, device or platform, delivering a “consistent, stress-free” purchasing experience.

They aim to solve the cumbersome problem of creating passwords and accounts to buy products on new sites, a process which can drive drop-offs before checkout.

The start-up makes its money by charging sellers a transaction fee of around 3% to process payments.

But it isn’t alone in the market with this offering. Payment wallets like Apple and Google Pay hold some of this market share, in addition to PayPal Checkout, and the financial offerings integrated by the likes of e-commerce platforms such as Shopify.

Growth has “far exceeded” expectations

Fast spokesperson, Jason Alderman, told The Information in November that adoption of its core product Fast Checkout “has far exceeded” its “ambitious projections”.

The fintech has closed its rounds in quick succession. Its seed round, at $2.5 million, closed in November 2019, with its Series A closing just four months later.

In November 2019, the fintech raised $2.5 million, and it’s been seven months since its $20 million Series A closed.

Fast’s valuation after this Series A round was just $180 million. The start-up, which was founded in March 2019, also only launched its core product in September.

Holland previously worked as a technologist based in Sydney for ITV shows such as Love Island Australia and The Voice Australia.

In his early career, he spent a number of years at Dell. He headed up its AUD 1.3 million ($928,830) quarter sales target in New Zealand.

Holland has also founded a number of ventures in Australia. One was an on-demand towing platform, another was a network of smart tap-to-donate collection terminals.

Fellow co-founder, Allison Barr Allen, previously led global product operations for Uber’s money team. But the ride hailing giant eventually wound back its financial play, deciding to re-focus on other areas of growth.

Read next: Fast is speeding to a $1bn valuation just one year after seed