Calgary-based payments company Helcim has raised $53 million in a Series C financing round as it expands its platform for small and mid-sized businesses across Canada and the United States.
The financing, led by the Business Development Bank of Canada's Growth Venture Fund, brings Helcim's total equity raised to $100 million since its 2022 Series A and values the company at $250 million, up from $97 million at its Series B in 2024.
The round included new investment from Curql Collective, a strategic investment fund backed by more than 160 North American credit unions, and Gold House Ventures. Existing investors Headline, Aquiline, Information Venture Partners, Vesey Ventures, Clocktower Ventures and Alberta Accelerate Fund also participated.
The funding comes as Helcim seeks to expand its payments platform, move further into the mid-market and add financial services for its merchants.
"There's a real void in the market right now - merchants are coming to Helcim faster than ever, looking for a modern alternative," said Nic Beique, Helcim's Founder and CEO. "This round lets us act on this at scale: expanding our platform, growing our team, and moving up-market so no business outgrows what we can offer them."
Helcim said it crossed $150 million in annual recurring revenue over the past year and now has 200 employees. Its merchant base has grown to more than 22,000 active businesses in Canada and the U.S., while the company is on track to process nearly $10 billion in annual payment volume.
The company said the financing comes as several of Canada's largest banks have recently sold or outsourced their merchant services businesses. Helcim is targeting small businesses and increasingly mid-market companies with a payments platform based on transparent pricing, in-person and online payment capabilities and customer service.
Helcim launched as an independent payments company in 2020 and built its payments infrastructure internally rather than reselling technology from another processor. The company said that allows it to offer volume-based interchange-plus pricing rather than flat-rate fees.
In January, Helcim introduced an AI-powered Payment Extension that allows merchants to integrate its payment processing into software they already use. The company said the tool gives merchants the ability to select their payment processor rather than being tied to an embedded-payments provider.
"Helcim is having a unique moment, growing fast and building a real advantage in the market," said Jack Fraser, Partner at BDC Capital's Growth Venture Fund. "Their recent AI-powered integration tool is a good example of the kind of fast-moving innovation we're backing, and exactly what it will take to capture that opportunity."
Helcim plans to use the new funding to continue developing its payments platform and expand into additional financial services for merchants.
The company is also increasing partnerships with regional banks and credit unions that are moving away from traditional payments providers and looking for platforms for their small-business members.
"Credit unions need to continue to upgrade their product offering for their small business members in the communities they serve if they want to remain relevant, compete and retain deposits," said Nick Evens, President and CEO at Curql. "Helcim's payment hub is the best we have seen and their value proposition for the CUs is far more robust than what is currently in market."