Italian fintech Qomodo has raised €34.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Fasanara Capital. Qomodo is introducing a suite of smart payment solutions to physical retailers, including a Buy Now Pay Later formula for essential yet often unexpected expenses, increasing both customer peace of mind and business turnover.
Founded in 2023 by Gianluca Cocco and Gaetano De Maio, two entrepreneurs with successful exits in Europe between 2018 and 2022, have previously played a role in boosting the turnover of physical stores through the distribution of new digital products in Italy.
Qomodo is positioned as a “simplifier” that enables retailers to expand their businesses by ensuring immediate, secure, and transparent collections, while also increasing the spending opportunities for their loyal customers through interest-free installments.
Physical stores are left out in the cold when it comes to competing online stores, partly due to their limited offering of flexible payment options. Qomodo aims to level the playing field by providing the necessary tools, like its Buy Now Pay Later solution, to physical retailers. Furthermore, bricks-and-mortar stores currently face challenges such as managing customer payments, which causes stress, and hinders their ability to focus on core operations. Qomodo streamlines this process, allowing retailers to concentrate on their businesses.
Qomodo is on a mission to solve this problem. It positions itself in the digital payments market as an “all-in-one” payment methods aggregator, allowing physical commercial operators to safeguard and expand their cash flow and offer Buy Now Pay Later payments to customers, in addition to one-time payments. Qomodo focuses on merchants providing services for essential yet often unforeseen expenses, which typically involve a higher transaction value.
The industry has responded with enthusiasm, as over 500 merchants adopted Qomodo during its stealth mode operation. Additionally, several agreements are in progress, set to onboard thousands of physical retailers in the coming months through API-based integration. Notably, these figures encompass both independent businesses and major retail chains.
Gianluca Cocco, CEO and co-founder of Qomodo, commented: “We’ve developed an “all-in-one” product that offers merchants all the payment solutions they need today: from SmartPOS for card acceptance to Buy Now Pay Later, Pay-by-Link, and Tap-to-Phone. This way, we’re introducing innovation to many sectors that often suffer from technological delays and endure slow and bureaucratic processes. Qomodo aims to bring the advantages of online payments to physical stores, focusing on essential expenses that significantly impact people’s lives. Motivated by strong early market signals, investor trust, and international partner interest, we’ve assembled a team with fintech experience to capture the opportunity for growing our customer base by hundreds, even thousands, of new merchants each month”.
Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital, commented: “Buy Now Pay Later has revolutionized online shopping in recent years. Qomodo is placing this technology at the service of physical retail in previously underserved sectors, offering additional payment solutions that enhance the experiences of both stores and consumers. We have great confidence in the team put together by Gianluca and Gaetano in a nascent market offering substantial growth potential.”
This is one of the most substantial pre-seed funding rounds in Italy to date. An assembly of local and global venture capital firms joined the round as follows: Exor Ventures, Proximity Capital, Ithaca Investment, Lumen Ventures, The Techshop, Primo Ventures – along with the early-phase programs of Notion Capital, Octopus Ventures, and Plug&Play. Notable angel investors include Mark Ransford, Luca Ascani, Attilio Mazzilli, Simone Mancini (Scalapay), Benedetta Arese Lucini, Kai Hansen (Lieferando), Giorgio Tinacci (Casavo), Stiven Muccioli (BKN301), Freddy Kelly (Credit Kudos), Christer Holloman (Divido), Raffaele Terrone (Scalapay), Andrea Gennarini, Giuseppe Lacerenza, Pietro Invernizzi, Serge Chiaramonte, William Neale.
