A decade ago, SumUp was one of the companies that made a name for themselves by turning basic phones into payment machines. Today, the company has expanded into a wider range of business services that are used by some 4 million small and medium businesses in 35 markets, and as it continues to scale out its ambitions, it has closed in on a major round of funding of 590 million.
The company plans to use the money for acquisitions, more hiring, and more organic product development.
The investment is coming in the form of 50% equity and 50% debt, and is being led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities.
Most of the 1.5 billion raised over the last ten years has been in debt.
In an interview, the co-founder and CFO of the company said that before this round less than 100 million of the total was equity, and that there was little transparency on the company.
Covid-19 put a damper on a lot of in-person commerce and that had a knock-on effect on the people and companies that worked in their commerce ecosystems. With the bread and butter of its business, point of sale payments, fundamentally a part of that in-person commerce experience, the company has had to double down on a wider array of services for small business retailers.
It has used a lot of the debt it has raised to date for acquisitions and to build out more services beyond POS payments, in areas like business banking and online payments.
The space has evolved over time. At a time when others in the same business as SumUp have either diversified strongly into areas like cryptocurrencies or been snapped up by even bigger fish, the company has positioned itself.
In what is a very fragmented space, it has snapped up companies to complement and expand its payments platform. When you consider all of the elements that go into buying and selling goods and services, there are a lot of areas that can be tackled by the company.
It seems that the strategy has worked, as the company's revenues have doubled in the last two years. He said that with 10% of its 4 million businesses now using its business banking service, it could become the world's biggest neobank for small and medium-sized businesses.
Point-of-sale payments still represent the bulk of the company's revenues, so 60% growth is not just a testament to the company being able to grow that business in the last two years, but also the fact that in-person and point-of-sale payments remained
The company has a global strategy. Europe is still its biggest geography at the moment, despite the fact that it is now in 35 markets and driving into more emerging countries. Michael Schrezenmaier is the company's CEO for the region.
In a statement, the MD of Bain Capital Tech Opportunities said, "SumUp has continually evolved to empower a growing and diverse field of small businesses with payment solutions and tools to datememe datememe datememe datememe." The company's leadership team has led the company to sustained and accelerated growth through expansion to more than 30 countries where they have had a positive impact on the small business community. We are proud to be able to help with the ability to push the boundaries of the industry.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
