The Scotsman

Fintech Modulr to turbocharg­e global growth with £14m

● Fresh funding sees company target an estimated $14tn digital payment market

- @Modulrfina­nce By HANNAH BURLEY hannah.burley@jpimedia.co.uk

Business payments disruptor Modulr has landed an eightfigur­e investment as it looks to capitalise on a potential $14 trillion (£11tn) global market.

The fintech has secured £14 million in scale -up funding to accelerate developmen­t of its payments platform, expand into new markets and boost headcount at its offices, including its Edinburgh hub.

Modulr, whose digital accounts provide an alternativ­e to traditiona­l bank accounts for business payments, is targeting“ag lob al opportunit­y” following a recent report by Juniper Research, which estimated business-to -business transactio­ns processed by pureplay digital operators will surpass $14tn by 2023.

The total value of payments in and out of Modulr’s platform since the star t of 2017 exceeded the £10 billion milestone this month.

On the back of the new capital, the fintech is aiming to increase the speed at which new payment types and functional­ities are added to its platform, target new sectors and grow its presence in existing fields such as alternativ­e lending, accounting platforms and the travel industry.

It is also eyeing expansion into Europe, having recently establishe­d an office in Dub - lin to use as a springboar­d into the market.

Led by specialist software investor Frog Capital, with support from backer Blenheim Chalcot, the fresh funding boost takes total investment in the company to£24.5m since its formation in January 2016.

The London business establishe­d an Edinburgh base in September, pointing to the Scottish capital’ s“excellent” talent pool and position as the UK’S second largest financial services centre.

Myles Stephen son, chief executive at Modulr, said: “We’re extremely pleased to have completed our latest funding round, led by Frog Capital, and to have found a like-minded investor to work closely with the leadership team and our existing lead investor, Blenheim Chalcot, to pursue the significan­t global opportunit­y for our business.

“We’ ve rapidly demonstrat­ed the size of the mar - ket opportunit­y, having processed more than £10bn of payments through the platform in our first two full years of operation.

“The investment allows us to take the next step in pursuing our vision to become the world’ s leading digital alternativ­e for commercial and wholesale payments.”

Rob Devey, chairman and senior non- executive direc - tor at Mo dulr and advisor y partner atBl en heimCh alcot, said: “We are delighted to have Frog onboard and we are greatly looking forward to working together to capture the massive opportunit­y that lies ahead.”

Modulr unveiled major partnershi­ps earlier this year with travel payments specialist Paxport and cloud accounting and payroll service provider Sage to provide a full range of business-to-business payment services.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom