GoCardless closes $312m funding round to become UK’s latest fintech ‘unicorn’
London-based payments firm GoCardless has closed a $312m funding round to make it the UK’s latest fintech ‘unicorn’ with a valuation of $2.1bn.
The funding round, led by Klarna-backer and serial payments investor Permira alongside BlackRock Private Equity Partners, will be pumped into accelerating the firm’s geographical and product footprint, bosses said today.
The capital injection sees GoCardless’s valuation more than double since its last round in December 2020, while headcount at the firm has grown by 85 per cent.
GoCardless founder and chief executive Hiroki Takeuchi said the firm was now planning to tap into the rollout of open banking technology globally.
“The rise of open banking presents a once-in-a-generation shift, one that will change the way payments happen all over the world,” he said.
“I am delighted to have partners like Permira and BlackRock Private Equity Partners on board, with their global footprint and strong expertise in tech, to support us in building a direct bank payment network that lets payments flow freely, without cards, expiration dates or extra costs.”
The funding round comes after GoCardless, which processes more than $25bn in transactions per year and serves over 70,000 businesses globally, locked in a partnership with buy-now pay-later firm Klarna to offer bank debit payments to its over 21m customers in the US.
Payments giant PayPal has also tapped up the firm to also provide direct debit payments for enterprise merchants.
Alberto Riva, Principal at investor Permira, said that GoCardless was well positioned to take the lead in account-to-account payments.
“We are thrilled to back Hiroki and his excellent team to continue innovating and offering best-in-class solutions that are cheaper, faster and a more secure way of collecting payments globally,” he said.
GoCardless will also bolster the payments pedigree on its board following the finding, adding Michael Rouse, former Chief Commercial Officer at Klarna joining, and Koen Köppen, Chief Technology Officer at Klarna and Board Member of Mollie, joining as an independent director.