Payments company started by former U.S. Bank exec raises $110M from investors

ConnexPay, a payments technology company started in the Twin Cities by a former executive at U.S. Bank, secured $110 million in growth equity capital from various investors, giving the fairly new company cash to fund its international expansion and hiring.

ConnexPay was started in 2017 by Robert Kaufman, who during an 18-year career at Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank was chief financial officer and senior vice president of U.S. Bank's payment services division. Kaufman was also general manager of the bank's virtual pay division.

The company is now headquartered in Bonita Springs, Fla., but maintains an office in St. Paul where 20% of its 63 employees work. The company also has an office in Atlanta.

ConnexPay's technology lets businesses accept payments from customers and pay merchants and suppliers in a singular system. It was initially created for the travel industry, including air and hotel businesses. Kaufman eventually expanded to other industries, including media, advertising and insurance, where groups need to expedite payments.

"The value of the connected ecosystem, which provides reduced risk, improved cash flow, lower costs of accepting payments and easier reconciliation, truly transforms companies across many verticals," Kaufman said in a statement.

With international currencies now added to the company's payments platform, the new round of funding is being applied to the company's international expansion, including in Europe, a company spokesperson said. It also will allow for more hiring, which will result in doubling the company's payroll before the end of 2023.

Investors have now poured $145 million into ConnexPay, according to a release from the company. One of those investors is FTV Capital, a San Francisco venture capital firm that has raised more than $6 billion to invest in high-growth companies.

Adam Hallquist, principal at FTV Capital, said in a statement that ConnexPay is "well-positioned to further scale in its core markets" at the same time it expands elsewhere.