Lithic

Lithic raised $60 million in Series C funding on July 28, 2021, led by Stripes. The round included participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Exor, Rainfall Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, and Commerce Ventures.

Prior to the Series C, the company completed earlier funding rounds including a Series A and Series B. Lithic has raised approximately $115.4 million in total funding across four rounds since its founding.

Investors across the funding rounds include Stripes, Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Exor, Rainfall Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, and Commerce Ventures.

Lithic provides an API platform that lets developers create and manage virtual and physical payment cards with minimal code. A developer can sign up, get API keys, and create a card with a single API call that returns the card number, expiry date, and security code for immediate online use.

The platform functions as a developer toolkit where cards can start as virtual and later be upgraded to physical by providing a shipping address. The same card number remains constant throughout this process.

Lithic offers spend controls through Authorization Stream Access, which sends real-time transaction data via webhooks and allows customers to approve or decline transactions in real time. For teams that prefer hosted solutions, the platform provides Authorization Rules that can block or allow transactions based on merchant category codes, countries, or address verification.

The system supports tokenization for Apple Pay, Google Pay, and merchant tokens through a dedicated Token Management API. Developers can activate or disable wallet tokens and push updated card artwork through the same interface.

The platform includes official SDKs for Node, Python, Go, Java, Kotlin, and Ruby, with rate limits of 30 requests per second for reads and 5 requests per second for writes in production environments.

Lithic operates a B2B SaaS model selling card issuing infrastructure to developers and companies building financial products. The company generates revenue through transaction-based fees, card issuance charges, and platform services tied to processing volume.

The business model centers on providing card issuing as a service, where customers pay based on usage rather than fixed subscriptions. This creates a direct correlation between customer success and Lithic's revenue growth, as higher transaction volumes from customer programs translate to increased revenue.

Lithic maintains partnerships with major payment networks including Visa and American Express, enabling access to premium card services and broader market reach. These relationships provide the underlying rails for card processing while Lithic focuses on the developer experience and API layer.

The company operates with a self-serve philosophy, allowing customers to onboard and configure card programs independently through documentation and APIs. This approach enables scalability without proportional increases in support overhead.

Revenue scales with customer growth in two dimensions: new customer acquisition and existing customer expansion as their card programs process higher volumes. The usage-based model aligns Lithic's incentives with customer success.

Marqeta represents the most direct competitor, operating as a public company focused on enterprise card issuing with global BIN coverage and JIT funding capabilities. Marqeta targets Fortune 500 use cases but typically requires higher volume minimums and longer onboarding processes.

Stripe Issuing leverages deep integration with Stripe's payment processing stack, supporting local issuing in 22 countries through a single API. Stripe can offer aggressive pricing bundles that waive issuing fees for customers using their payment processing services.

Highnote positions itself as both processor and program manager, offering full control over authorization flows similar to Lithic's approach. The company competes directly for mid-market fintech customers seeking both processing and program management from a single vendor.

Adyen Issuing ties card issuing to Adyen's acquiring infrastructure, enabling same-day movement of merchant settlement funds onto issued cards. This creates advantages for B2B payables and treasury management use cases.

These platforms leverage existing merchant relationships and payment processing volume to cross-sell issuing services, often at competitive pricing due to bundling economics.

Banking-as-a-Service platforms bundle card issuing with deposit accounts, compliance services, and regulatory oversight. These providers compete by offering comprehensive financial infrastructure but typically move slower on product development and API improvements.

The regulatory scrutiny following recent BaaS provider failures has created opportunities for focused infrastructure players like Lithic that partner with established banks rather than attempting to provide full banking services.

The Commercial Revolving Credit API launched in December 2024 enables customers to issue true revolving balance credit cards, moving beyond prepaid and debit offerings. This opens access to interchange-rich credit economics in a U.S. business credit card market approaching $1.7 trillion in purchase volume.

Stablecoin-powered cards through the Rain partnership position Lithic in cross-border and cryptocurrency payments, allowing cards that draw on USDC and other stablecoins with real-time conversion at point-of-sale.

Visa ALM integration and enhanced Token Management APIs provide premium-tier interchange rates and richer transaction data required by vertical SaaS, fleet management, and benefits platforms.

Vertical SaaS and B2B platforms represent significant expansion opportunities, with enhanced commercial data and spend controls making Lithic attractive to construction, logistics, healthcare benefits, and marketplace software providers.

The solopreneurs and gig economy segment includes approximately 33 million workers in the U.S. who need business financial tools. Partners like Novo and Atlas use Lithic's credit and instant issuance capabilities to serve this underbanked market.

Crypto and Web3 companies need card off-ramps for exchanges, wallets, and remittance applications. The Rain partnership and multicurrency settlement capabilities position Lithic to capture this growing segment.

Canada represents Lithic's first international market with multicurrency processing launched in September 2024. The platform already supports settlement in USD, CAD, GBP, and EUR, establishing groundwork for U.K. and EU expansion.

International expansion requires additional BIN sponsorship relationships and regulatory compliance but leverages the same core API infrastructure, enabling efficient geographic scaling.

Regulatory scrutiny: The Synapse and Evolve Bank failures have intensified regulatory focus on sponsor bank relationships and ledger accuracy in card issuing infrastructure. Increased compliance requirements could raise operational costs and slow product development as regulators demand more oversight of BaaS and issuing partnerships.

Competitive bundling: Stripe's ability to waive issuing fees for payment processing customers and Adyen's same-day settlement from acquiring to cards create pricing pressure through bundled offerings. As payment giants expand into issuing, they can subsidize card services with revenue from other products, potentially commoditizing standalone issuing platforms.

Volume concentration: Lithic's revenue model depends heavily on processing volume from a relatively small customer base of over 100 companies. If major customers reduce card program usage or switch providers, the impact on revenue could be significant given the transaction-based fee structure and the time required to replace large volume customers.