On a mission to unlock marketplace success, Amsterdam-based Payaut has just scored €8 million in seed funding. The round was led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture fund, with participation from existing investors LocalGlobal and Entrée Capital.
Founded in 2019, Payaut provides an automatic payment solution for online platforms and marketplaces. The fintech enables online marketplaces to seamlessly pay their sellers and ensure compliance, whilst still having flexibility on which payment providers they use. The fintech firm also provides automated solutions such as reconciliation, balance management, invoicing, seller verification through KYC checks, and split payments, whilst remaining compliant with legislation such as PSD2.
The result is higher authorisation rates, unlimited payment methods, reduced downtimes and the best-in-market pricing, as users of any size can efficiently and securely manage their payments and finances
With Payaut, the daily hassle of payouts, split payments and KYC is removed for online marketplaces – giving users more time to focus on growing their businesses. Back in 2020, the team landed €2.6 million, together with this new funding, reflecting the benefits this all-in-one payment solution is bringing to customers.
One of the core advantages of Payaut is that it acts as an intermediary between sellers and different Payment Service Providers (PSPs). It means that marketplaces are not dependent on one single PSP but instead can use multiple providers such as Mollie, Adyen, PayPal or Stripe at the same time. It gives users more flexibility and optionality – crucial in this continually competitive space.
Anna Patterson, Managing Partner at Gradient Ventures, said: “In the past, marketplaces and ecommerce companies built split payment systems in-house or were tied to a payment gateway solution. With Payaut, small and medium-size enterprises are empowered to handle KYC/AML, split payments, and multi-PSP configurations themselves. We’re excited to support Ernst and his team as they make this crucial technology more widely available.”
This fresh funding will be used to expand Payaut’s operations across Europe with the roll out of its new multi-currency platform. This platform will enable customers to accept payments in currencies including USD, GBP, JPY and AUD – reflecting a growing need for localisation in payment methods.
By expanding beyond EUR payments, Payaut will also be positioned to enter markets outside of Europe. Payaut plans to begin its expansion drive by increasing its presence in Germany, Southern Europe and the Nordics. In addition, the team aims to grow from 25 to 40 employees over the next year.
Ernst van Niekerk, CEO and Founder of Payaut, said: “This is a critical step in Payaut’s journey. The funding will enable us to fulfill our ambition to become the solution of choice for marketplace platforms worldwide. Not only will we be able to expand our platform to provide new solutions, we will also be able to increase our presence across a number of major new markets. “We’re very pleased Gradient Ventures has invested. It’s a great vote of confidence in our team and underlines how we have created an offering that appeals to marketplaces and platforms of all sizes.”
