PaySend breaks through its £4 million fundraising target

FINTECH: Fife firm will use investment to “rapidly expand” and recruit staff

A Fife fintech company has smashed through its crowdfunding target as it looks to expand its global reach.

PaySend, founded in 2017 and already valued at £125 million, launched a funding campaign to raise £4.2m while offering a 3.3% stake in the firm, which specialises in international financial transfers.

The crowdfunding campaign, which was run through Seedrs, ultimately attracted almost £4.4m from investors.

Ronald Millar, chief executive of PaySend, welcomed the investment.

He said: “I’m very pleased that it has gone so well, and to have reached our target so quickly.

“The money will be used to fund the expansion of the business and to roll out a business to business side of the operation which will enable larger sums to be transferred internationally.

“The company is just two years old, and the fact that in that time it has grown from having zero customers to more than 800,000 is a tremendous success, and we are already working on other projects – we are creating money for the future.”

Mr Millar, whose 130-strong workforce is spread across Kirkcaldy, Edinburgh, London and Moscow, said that the firm will be “expanding rapidly.”

The expansion programme will include a recruitment campaign and proposals to increase the company’s footprint in Scotland.

The Kirkcaldy company offers a range of financial products, after initially creating a system of transferring funds internationally by knowing a recipient’s 16-digit card number.

After a funding round which raised $20 million last year, the firm developed its global account – a mobile app that allows people to hold, move and spend multiple currencies.

Funds can be held in the wallet in different currencies and spent by using a physical PaySend card, which is backed by Mastercard.

The company also previously launched PaySend Link, where the recipient sees an incoming transfer and is able to direct it to a card or bank account of their choice and withdraw cash at any ATM worldwide. The system offers the added security of the recipient providing no personal details other than their phone number.

Mr Millar previously founded pay-TV company Paywizard, which is also based in Fife.

Ronald Millar, CEO of PaySend, has welcomed the funding campaign success.