A boutique bank that refuses to do anything but consumer deals just got a lot bigger. Here is how a Boston firm turned brand obsession into a specialty M&A practice - and why Origin Merchant Partners bought in.
Topship is a Lagos-based digital freight forwarder that lets African businesses and individuals ship parcels, cargo and freight to and from more than 150 countries. Founded in 2020 and part of Y Combinator's Winter 2022 batch, it functions as an asset-light shipping layer - booking, tracking, insurance and, increasingly, an AI shipping assistant - aimed at the merchants who move goods across borders but were previously stuck with informal agents and opaque pricing.
Cybersource is a global payment management platform owned by Visa, helping merchants accept, secure, and optimize digital transactions in 190+ countries. Founded in 1994 and acquired by Visa in 2010 for ~$2B, it powers payment gateway, tokenization, fraud management (Decision Manager) and orchestration services for hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide.