Melbourne-based Openpay, an interest-free payment plan provider, has reportedly raised $10m and cancelled plans for an IPO.
The startup has raised capital from Meydan Group, Investec and SL Investments Group according to various media reports. As part of the investment, Investec head of emerging companies David Phillips and SL Investments Group retail director Darron Kupshik have reportedly joined the Openpay’s board.
Last year, the start-up was considering an IPO, however, it has now decided to continue growth as a private company. Instead, it plans to use the new capital to accelerate its rollout and expansion. Openpay claims to be a leader in the Australian ‘buy now pay later’ sector. Its connected instore, online and mobile omni-channel payment plan technology enables customers to pay for a portion of their purchase, take it home that day, and pay it off over several months, interest free.
Its business model has flexible payment terms and a broad industry approach; offering payment plans in a wide range of sectors Including healthcare, automotive, home improvement and retail. Openpay is now available through 4,000 merchants in Australia with 200,000 payment plans already active.
Investec has been an active investor in FinTech in recent months. Earlier this month, it co-led a £1.5m funding round in Bud, a London-based banking app and website that aggregates financial services. It also recently participated in Curve’s $10m Series A funding round, joining Santander InnoVentures, Oxford Capital, Connect Ventures, Speedinvest, Breega Capital and Samos Investments.
October has seen a wave of investments in the payments sector. Payment solution provider Fattmerchant closed a $5.5m round of funding, from Fulcrum Equity Partners. While Chicago-based payment solution platform CardX reeled in $2.1m in an investment led by NXGEN International.
Also this month, Australia-based Verrency bagged $15m in a Series A funding round. Verrency is a payments solution which allows issuers to offer the latest payment capabilities, through their existing infrastructure. The platform allows consumers to have control over their cards, issuers to create specific purpose cards, gain access to any payment terminal and offer rewards to consumers.
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