Pay Theory, which claims to build financially inclusive payments for families, has bagged $2m in its seed funding round.
Zeal Capital Partners served as the lead investor, with commitments also coming from SixThirty, Ohio Impact Fund, Gaingels and Sica Ventures. The round was also backed by existing investors Double Eagle Venture Partners, LOUD Capital and a series of angel investors.
Proceeds from the round will be used for product development and talent acquisition. It is particularly interested in hiring sales, finance and software development professionals.
Based in the US, Pay Theory was created to provide a better payments solution for k12 schools. However, after exploring the market it decided it needed to help create equitable, inclusive access to financing systems.
It claims that around 30% of K12 public school families in the US are un- or underbanked and locked out of traditional financing systems. Furthermore, over half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, according to research from Highland Solutions.
Pay Theory is designed for SaaS vendors to improve their customer experiences and ensure inclusivity when accessing checking accounts or credit cards. Its services are also used by k12 schools, childcare providers, healthcare services and activity organisations.
In the future, the FinTech company plans to launch an access now, pay later solutions. In theory, these will help SaaS platforms empower families to make payments to service providers that will shape their children’s future.
Zeal Capital founder and managing partner Nasir Qadree said, “Pay Theory offers a new opportunity for fintech to leverage its power to narrow the financial divide for families and communities that have been historically ignored and underserved in the financial services industry.
“The potential of becoming a market leader – the impact and scale of that impact – is in lockstep with Zeal’s mission to spur greater economic mobility across the US by closing the financial gap for the un- and underbanked. We are excited to help propel their journey.”
With the close of the round, the company has raised a total of $2.5m in funding.
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