E-commerce, as a segment, has been steadily growing year over year. But with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic almost putting a stop to retail store visits, and with online ordering becoming safer and easier, the e-commerce segment has seen a massive surge.
But to go along with this surge, consumers also expect the payment process to be smooth and streamlined. While it’s the case for consumer e-commerce platforms, online B2B purchases are still problematic.
And this is where Amsterdam-based Sprinque steps in to redefine online B2B payments by offering a SaaS payment solution tailored to businesses’ needs for B2B merchants and marketplaces.
In a recent development, Sprinque announced that it has raised €1.7M in a fresh round of funding.
The startup received its initial investment of €100K from Antler Amsterdam in January, 2021. Including the current round, the company has now raised a total of €1.8M in funding.
Investors in this round
The round saw participation from Volta Ventures and Force Over Mass. Both have invested in numerous fintech and B2B startups such as Banxware, Cashforce, Blanco, and Shieldpay.
Additionally, a renowned group of angel investors and payments industry executives also invested in this round. These include Gaston Aussems, ex-CEO of Mollie, Matt Robinson, founder of GoCardless, Charlie Delingpole, founder & CEO of ComplyAdvantage, Rainer Majcen, ex-CEO of Finance BPO at Arvato Financial Solutions Chris Adelsbach, and Great Stuff Ventures.
Sprinque’s co-founder Mark Holleman says, “the complementary skill set, brought together by Antler, is what makes this team of founders a great match for investors. Volta understood the opportunity right from the start, and with Force Over Mass, we have partners experienced in the B2B and fintech field and with an international portfolio.”
Capital utilisation?
The raised capital will enable Sprinque to build its product and onboard the first clients on the waiting list.
Co-founder Juan Espinosa says, “we’re aiming to grow to process €100M in payment transactions next year.” Mark Holleman adds, “speed is of the essence now. We’re facing a blue ocean full of opportunity. With this funding, we can conquer a large part of the vast open space ahead of us.”
Smooth payment processes for businesses
In an exclusive interview with Silicon Canals, Sprinque’s CEO & co-founder Juan Espinosa explains, “one of the challenges has been that the B2B payments space is a vast, untapped opportunity, so it was important for us to decide where we wanted to focus and why. We believe that B2B marketplaces are leading the digital transformation of traditional industries across the board. These marketplaces are the innovators and transformers of their industries, which is what makes them a perfect fit for Sprinque.”
Founded in 2021 by Manoj Tutika, Mark Holleman, and Juan Espinosa, Sprinque has built a digital checkout infrastructure to make business transactions as frictionless as ordering something from a consumer webshop.
The company’s SaaS solution only needs one single integration and offers a multitude of business-specific options. These include pay with net 30-, 60-, and 90-day terms, split payments, and pay on milestones.
It also offers access to multiple payment methods, including Pay by Bank, allowing buyers to settle invoices using their online bank account or mobile bank app. Sprinque’s checkout platform automates all payment workflows and will offer merchants the option to get instantly paid.
Co-founder Espinosa says, “we have only just launched the first component of our checkout platform, which is a Pay by Bank payment option. We are live testing this solution with a marketplace and the feedback has been super positive; it is a straightforward experience for buyers and it can significantly lower the cost of payment for merchants.”
Currently a team of eight people, Sprinque is hiring for several roles across product design, credit risk, and engineering.
How was Sprinque born?
Espinosa mentioned to Silicon Canals that the original idea for the company came from Mark Holleman’s (co-founder) experience developing payment solutions for Amazon while he was at Arvato Financial Solutions. There, he not only experienced first-hand the complexity of building and managing these solutions for marketplaces, but also the impact the right payment experiences could have on customers satisfaction and growth.
Espinosa says, “when the founding team (Manoj, Juan, and Mark) met at Antler in Amsterdam back in November 2020, there was an instant fit. We all have different experiences and strengths (domain, commercial, tech), but all share a passion for fintech, payments, and marketplaces. We started working together from the beginning of the Antler program and have been super focused ever since on executing our plans to create awesome checkout and payments experiences for B2B commerce.”
Before founding Sprinque, co-founder Tutika was a founding engineer at several VC-funded startups, most recently at AI-startup Netradyne; Espinosa led the go-to-market strategy at MessageBird, which this year exceeded a valuation of a billion euros; and Holleman most recently led a key account at Arvato Financial Solutions, developing Buy Now, Pay Later payment solutions for the leading marketplace in Europe.
Expansion plans
Talking about expansion plans, Espinosa told Silicon Canals that the company’s current focus is on the EU.
“Payment complexity and nuances vary from continent to continent. Initially, we will focus on the EU, ensuring we can build and enable the best online payment experiences for buyers in the region. The platform is fundamentally built to handle cross-border transactions so our international expansion will begin across the largest trade corridors,” he said.
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