Online payment solution payleven has announced new funding in the high single-digit millions (in US dollars) from an unnamed investor. The Rocket Internet company, which is jointly based in London and Berlin, will use the money to back its expansion plans in Europe and South America in what is an extremely competitive – and fast-growing – space.
The mobile point of sale (MPOS) platform enables users to turn their smartphones and tablets into card terminals for accepting payments and is specifically aimed at small businesses and mobile service providers. The new investor joins New Enterprise Associates, Holtzbrinck Ventures and ru-Net in provding funding to payleven along the Samwer brothers‘ investment vehicle with the last round, worth double-digit millions, being closed in the summer of 2012.
Users pay a fixed fee of 2.75 percent for accepting payments and, the company says, can thus avoid fixed costs and a complicated sign up process. In a press release announcing the investment, payleven also claims to be the first company in continental Europe to meet the security standards necessary for a “fully functional” MPOS device, with Visa only allowing MPOS payments with Chip&Pin authorization.
Konstantin Wolff, co-founder and CMO of payleven, said: “We are thrilled to see our investor base grow, which reflects the excitement for the first Chip & PIN mobile point of sale in Continental Europe. We want to remain innovative, develop our product and accelerate the growth of our merchant base. The close partnership we have with our investors is key to achieve this.”
It’s no surprise that the race for MPOS market share is rapidly turning into an all-out sprint, with a space that holds such high potential. The stiff competition payleven is facing includes the likes of SumUp, iZettle and Adyen. They are all chasing the kind of success enjoyed by Square in the US.
Ian Marsh, co-founder and CEO of payleven UK, recently said: “The way people pay is changing rapidly – Europe is at the moment on the cusp of a mobile payment revolution.”