London-based Paddle, the provider of a complete payments infrastructure for SaaS companies, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $200M (approximately €188.98M) in its Series D round of equity and debt financing.
With this round, Paddle has now raised a total investment of $293M (approximately €277.33M), to date. And the company has also achieved the status of a unicorn as it currently sits at a valuation of $1.4B (approximately €1.32B).
Paddle says it will use the funds to strengthen the growth of its platform and to meet the market opportunity that exists for a complete payment infrastructure provider for software companies globally. According to the company, this will assist in enabling it to scale and sell its products faster, with less risk and lower costs.
Investors in this round
The round was led by KKR, a global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR’s investment was made through its growth equity fund, Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II.
Besides, the round also saw participation from existing investors FTV Capital, 83North, Notion Capital, Kindred Capital, and debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank.
Patrick Devine, Director at KKR, says, “Paddle is solving a significant pain point for thousands of SaaS companies by reducing the friction and costs associated with managing payments infrastructure and tax compliance. By simplifying the payments stack, Paddle enables faster, more sustainable growth for SaaS businesses.”
Helping SaaS companies navigate the revenue journey
Founded in 2012 by Christian Owens and Harrison Rose, Paddle claims to offer SaaS companies a completely different approach to their payments infrastructure. Instead of assembling and maintaining a complex stack of payments-related apps and services, Paddle acts as a merchant of record for its customers. This enables sellers to activate new business models and enter new markets faster and with fewer operational and compliance issues.
Christian Owens says, “The opportunity in software is enormous, with tens of thousands of businesses bringing products to market every year. Unfortunately, many SaaS companies still find their growth hindered by the operational challenges that arise when scaling; from handling subscriptions management or tax compliance to localising payment options in every market. Paddle was created to remove these invisible barriers so that SaaS companies can just focus on building and selling software.”
He further mentions that 2021 was a fantastic year for the company. “We have big plans for 2022 and beyond and we’re delighted to have the backing of so many fantastic investors who all share our vision,” he adds.
The company offers integration checkout, payment, subscription management, invoicing, international taxes and financial compliance processes. Paddle’s payments infrastructure is used by over 3,000 software companies in more than 200 markets worldwide.
With a suite of new platform features and integrations – including the announcement of an alternative In-App Purchasing (IAP) system for iOS developers – as well as rapid international expansion, Paddle has more than doubled its revenue growth since November 2020, contributing to average annual revenue growth of over 175 per cent over the last four years.
The company has also scaled its team from 140 to 275 across offices in London and New York, with more hires expected to match its acceleration as a business.