The Italian fintech aims to become the next leading payments network in Europe.
(Photo: Satispay)
Frankfurt Italian financial start-up (fintech) Satispay has raised 320 million euros in fresh funds. According to his own statements, this increases his valuation to more than one billion euros.
The financing round is led by US investor Addition. There are other well-known financiers in Greyhound, Coatue and Tencent. Since the company was founded in 2013, Satispay has raised a total of EUR 450 million in capital.
Alberto Dalmasso, co-founder and CEO of Satispay, said the company wants to create “the next leading payment network in Europe”. Satispay offers a payment app that consumers can use to send money to each other and pay at the cash register – provided the retailer has integrated Satispay into their cash register system.
The financing round comes at a time when many payment companies have had to accept a significant loss in value. The shares of the US payment companies Affirm and Paypal have fallen sharply within a year, the same applies to Adyen in Europe.
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The Swedish start-up Klarna even had to accept a heavy discount with the latest financing round in July. Klarna, known for its “Buy now, pay later” payment method, received $800 million. However, the valuation fell by 85 percent to $ 6.7 billion (about seven billion euros at the current rate). When Klarna raised fresh funds in June 2021, the valuation was still valued at $45.6 billion.
In Germany, Satispay only has a minimal presence
Satispay has three million consumers and 200,000 merchants as customers – mainly in Italy. Among them are many small shops, but also large retailers and restaurants such as Carrefour, Benetton, Decathlon, McDonald’s and the Italian railway company Trenitalia.
So far, Satispay has only had a minimal presence in Germany. In the Berlin area, Satispay has gained around 1,000 shops as customers. The number of users is around 20,000.
When paying at the cash register, Satispay does not rely on the widespread NFC technology on which contactless payment with bank cards, but also Apple Pay and Google Pay are based. Instead, payments are made via a QR code, for example, which appears on the card reader.
To do this, retailers and private users have to store their bank details in the Satispay app. In addition to scanning the QR code, there is the option for the consumer to see a payment request from the retailer in the payment app. Or they have to enter the amount themselves.
After the current round of financing, the largest external shareholder is Addition with 17 percent. According to the company, the proportion of Satispay founders – in addition to Dalmasso, these are Dario Brignone and Samuele Pinta – is even higher.
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