French Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) startup Alma has closed a $130m Series C round in addition to $109m in debt financing.
According to a report by TechCrunch, Tencent, GR Capital and Roosh Ventures are investing in the startup for the first time. Some of the startup’s existing investors are also investing once again, such as Cathay Innovation, Eurazeo, Bpifrance’s Large Venture fund, Seaya Ventures and Picus Capital.
The funding comes three years after the company’s launch, as it commits to “reinvent the link between merchants and consumers, on a European scale.”
Alma said charging late fees imposes an ethical distortion on the business model: the payment actor then has every interest in accepting fragile buyer profiles who will pay late – and who will have to pay additional fees.
These penalties can represent up to 15% of revenue for some platforms. At Alma, it’s 0%. The company said it wants to put the notion of responsible lending back at the centre of credit discussions, making it the industry standard.
The BNPL startup has recently opened offices in Madrid and Milan, and will soon open one in Germany as part of bolstering its physical presence in Europe.
Alma said, “We want to be part of consumers’ daily lives and help them buy better, not just more, by offering them an effective and healthy alternative to traditional consumer credit. Buying better is not only going upmarket by offering better quality, more durable products; it is also not to suffer hidden costs or late penalties.”
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