Bitcoin white-label service provider NYDIG announced Tuesday that it raised $1 billion in a private equity round, propelling the firm to a $7 billion valuation.

The funding round comes on the heels of partnership announcements with a range of companies, including with core providers FIS, Fiserv and Jack Henry, and digital banking platforms such as Alkami, Q2 and NCR. The round was led by growth equity firm WestCap, with participants including Bessemer Venture Partners and FinTech Collective, as well as Affirm, FIS, Fiserv, MassMutual, Morgan Stanley and New York Life.

New York, N.Y.-based NYDIG, which was founded in 2017, plans to upgrade its existing bank solutions platform to match recent updates in Bitcoin protocol, focusing on Bitcoin and Lightning payments, asset tokenization and smart contracts. It will also support the growth of its management and development teams.

“Our roster of partnerships and strategic investors lays the foundation for NYDIG to become the leading provider of Bitcoin solutions for businesses,” Robert Guttmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, said in the funding announcement. “This new equity capital will further accelerate progress towards making this exciting network accessible – and useful – to all.”

Mesh Payments raises $50M for expense management tech

Corporate expense management fintech Mesh Payments announced Tuesday that it raised $50 million in a series B funding round. The New York, N.Y.-based company plans to use the cash for overall growth strategy going into 2022.

“The latest influx of funds enables us to continue to innovate on solutions that streamline the entire payments process to make operations smoother and faster for finance managers,” Oded Zehavi, Mesh Payments co-founder and CEO, said in a statement.

The funding round was led by Tiger Capital with participating firms including TLV Partners, Meron Capital, Entrée Capital and Falcon Edge Capital.

The fintech, founded in 2018, has raised $63 million over two rounds, according to Crunchbase, with its first round in February raising $13 million.

CSI NuPoint extends bank partnerships

Dolores, Colo.- based Dolores State Bank announced this week that it will adopt CSI’s NuPoint cloud-based digital banking platform. The $311 million bank cites NuPoint’s ability to streamline employee and user engagement while also eliminating technology barriers.

“CSI provides the technology we need to quickly launch solutions that many larger banks are unwilling or unable to offer,” bank President Doug Aiken said in a release. “Together, we can provide our customers with the tools they need to effectively manage their finances in any channel.”

The platform offers banking processes on a private cloud with a customizable user experience. In November, the $257 million Wyoming Bank & Trust also selected the Paducah, Ky.-based company’s platform, citing a need for a more reliable and secure solution. Currently, NuPoint’s payment solutions and data center are offered only on a private cloud, but CSI plans to offer a public cloud solution in the future. The shift will be gradual, starting with a move of NuPoint’s customer-facing capabilities to a public cloud, Group President of Enterprise Banking Giovanni Mastronardi told Bank Automation News.

Backbase establishes credit union base

Digital banking platform provider Backbase announced Wednesday that it will provide digital services for $1.58 billion Blue Federal Credit Union’s (BFCU) retail and business divisions.

Backbase’s solutions will replace legacy UI/UX systems for the Cheyenne, Wyo.-based credit union, which has 100,000 members. This is one of several digital upgrades: BFCU also moved some of its IT infrastructure to Microsoft Azure.

“We have been working on our digital transformation for some time now, but our investment in Backbase moves us away from a product-centered online and mobile implementation to a digital experience,” BFCU Chief Information Officer Kent Richard said in a release.

Deals and Dollars is a weekly Bank Automation News column that features fintech funding rounds and the technology dealings of financial institutions. Submissions may be sent for consideration to editorial@royalmedia.com.

Bank Automation Summit, taking place March 1-2 in Charlotte, N.C., is the first and only event to focus solely on automation in banking. The event will feature the brightest minds from across financial services on intelligent automation strategies and deployment. Learn more and register for Bank Automation Summit 2022.