Payments

In search of the next Klarna

Last updated: 14 Oct 2021

Market 101

Payments companies are supplying the invisible infrastructure without which no one could buy anything anywhere in the world. Startups are cooking up ideas to allow consumers to pay in more innovative ways, and are helping more companies cash in on the rise of contactless and online payments. They’re challenging the incumbents, head-on, while inspiring others to upgrade or integrate new services.

Thanks to them, we’ve grown used to paying in installments or with QR codes. In the future, we may instead access portions of our salary right away, or leave the store without tapping our cards or phones. What now seems like wizardry will soon feel mundane.

Early stage market map

Early stage market map

Key facts

€289bn

EMEA payments market size in 20201

75%

of all Mastercard transactions across Europe that are now contactless as of March 20202

30%

of e-commerce spend using buy now pay later (BNPL) options by 20253

Startups tracked by Sifted

Sifted take

Payments startups’ true test is whether they can hold their own against incumbents when they have been all too comfortable snapping up their smaller rivals. Should this M&A trend continue in the sector, the ways in which we pay may change, but the dominant players will stay the same.

Rising stars

Briqpay

E-commerce payments

Total funding

€2m

Stockholm, Sweden
2020

Offers an end-to-end payment solution for merchants, from creating an account to analysing data post-checkout. Its cofounders all have backgrounds in ecommerce and fintech, and met while working at Klarna.

Round

Seed

Valuation

€10m


Date

2020

Size

€2m

Banked

Account-to-account payments

Total funding

€4.6m

London, United Kingdom
2015

Offers an account-to-account payment software that charges 0.1% to process payments, which are transferred in near real-time. Cofounder Brad Goodall previously cofounded 10x Banking, a banking startup that has raised €59m and employs close to 300 people.

Round

Seed

Valuation

€14m


Date

2020

Size

€2.8m

Total funding

€2.5m

Oslo, Norway
2020

Offers a BNPL plugin specifically for B2B shopping. Its cofounders include Andreas Mjelde, who previously raised €210m for the marketplace startup Linio, and several former strategy consultants.

Round

Seed

Valuation

€12.5m


Date

2021

Size

€2.5m

Early stage startups to watch

Bottlepay

Newcastle, United Kingdom
2019
Seed

15m

13m

-

Bridge

Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2018
Seed

3m

3m

-

Briqpay

Stockholm, Sweden
2020
Seed

2m

2m

-

Dintero

Oslo, Norway
2017
Seed

1.2m

200k

-

Fintecture

Paris, France
2018
Seed

6.8m

6.8m

-

Joe

Paris, France
2020
Seed

1m

1m

-

Payaut

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2019
Seed

11.4m

7.8m

-

payvyne

London, United Kingdom
2019
Seed

13.2m

13.2m

-

Phos Cloud

Sofia, Bulgaria
2018
Seed

3m

2m

-

Playter Pay

London, United Kingdom
2021
Seed

1.2m

1.2m

-

Ready2order

Vienna, Austria
2015
Seed

5m

5m

-

Sprinque

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2022
Pre-seed

1.8m

1.7m

-

Tillit Finance

Oslo, Norway
2020
Seed

2.5m

2.5m

-

Trilo

London, United Kingdom
2020
Seed

1.2m

900k

-

Trisbee

Prague, Czech Republic
2017
Seed

877k

500k

-

WyzePay

London, United Kingdom
2019
Seed

460k

460k

-

Yavin

Paris, France
2019
Seed

1.2m

1.2m

-

Europe’s success stories

Who early stage startups are up against

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

→ Processed over €300bn worth of payments in 2020, primarily from large, international merchants, both online and through in-store POS offering

→ Current market cap of €65bn (IPO’d in 2018)

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

→ Younger competitor to Adyen, focusing more on mid-market merchants, rapid growth and acquisitions

→ Tripled its payment processing volumes in 2020 compared to 2019

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

→ Europe’s leading BNPL provider, which has since successfully expanded to the US

→ Following its latest funding round, the company is now the world’s second most valuable fintech at a $45.6bn postmoney valuation

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