Canadian fintech Nuvei gets investment from Ryan Reynolds

Canadian fintech company Nuvei has received an undisclosed investment from Hollywood actor and serial investor Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds, whose other high-profile investments include American Aviation Gin and Wrexham AFC, was a minority shareholder in wireless provider Mint Mobile, which was acquired last month by T-Mobile US for US$1.35bn. The sale reportedly netted Reynolds a cool $300mn. Now the actor, who freely admits to knowing nothing about fintech, is hoping that Montreal-based Nuvei can emulate the success of American firms.

“I know as much about fintech as I did about gin or mobile a few years ago,” he says. “But Nuvei is impressive. The leadership team is exceedingly intelligent and hard-working, and it’s about time a Canadian company got the type of attention American tech companies do.”

Nuvei welcomes ‘one of the most recognisable Canadians’

Nuvei is a global payments technology company that offers card acquiring services in more than 200 markets, including direct local acquiring in over 47 countries as well as access to more than 600 alternative payment methods. The company has gone from strength to strength since going public, announcing $500mn in post-IPO funding last summer and entering a definitive agreement to acquire Paya, a payment platform, at the beginning of this year.

The company is continuing to expand outside North America, growing its market share in both Latam and APAC – including recently launching local acquiring capabilities in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

Phil Fayer, Nuvei’s CEO and Chair, is delighted to welcome Reynolds on board as the company’s latest investor: “We’re thrilled to welcome Ryan to the Nuvei family. We’re a global company but extremely proud of our Canadian roots and values, so to have one of the most internationally recognisable Canadians, as well as an entrepreneur with such renowned business acumen, join our investors is a privilege.”