Amsterdam-based Recharge.com, a one-stop-shop for all branded payment needs, announced that it has opened up a new office in Lisbon that will focus on product development as it accelerates the expansion of its international operations.
This comes after the company’s recent fundraising of $35M (approx €29.82M) in a Series B round led by early-stage VC fund SmartFin. The proceeds are being used to accelerate the company’s global expansion plan. Recharge is targeting sales of €450M and 50 per cent year-on-year growth in 2021.
A new development hub
Recharge.com’s new location is based out of LX Factory, which the company says is the prime hotspot of the Alcântara neighbourhood. With this development, the company now joins a list of other major fintech firms in setting up technology hubs in the Portuguese capital.
In recent years, Lisbon has attracted many new commercial residents like Google and Mollie, with the city’s offerings of high quality engineering talent, business-friendly policies, and high English language proficiency levels in comparison to other European hubs.
Recharge already employs a large Brazilian workforce that speaks Portuguese and shares a cultural history with Portugal. “This forms an ideal basis to quickly ramp up our new location and integrate it in our current operations in Amsterdam,” mentioned the company in a statement.
Why the new office?
The teams in the new development hub will focus on the introduction of custom financial services and banking products, as well as optimising customer experience services and features to provide better customer care.
The development hub will house primarily software and QA engineers and the team will be an extension of the current product capabilities in Amsterdam, accelerating product development in line with the company’s international growth strategy.
Recharge.com’s CEO Gunther Vogelpoel says, “The opening of this new office is incredibly exciting for us. It marks yet another milestone and is a natural next step for our international growth strategy. Lisbon is the perfect next destination for us as we take on the world of branded payments from not just one, but two key locations in Europe.”
Vogelpoel adds, “As one of the most vibrant new technology hubs in Europe, there is great match in both talent and capabilities for Recharge’s ambitions. I am looking forward to welcoming our new colleagues and making them part of our great Recharge adventure.”
“Recharge anytime, anywhere”
Founded in 2010 by Dirk Ueberbach and Robin Weesie, Recharge.com is currently led by CEO Gunther Vogelpoel, who joined the company in 2017. The company makes digital top-up fast, safe and simple for consumers via its partnerships with brands through its online platform including Apple iTunes, Spotify, Netflix, and many more.
For instance, customers get the opportunity to digitally buy or send prepaid credit to spend with their favourite brands. In the case of businesses, Recharge.com’s solution combines a scalable, proprietary-based tech platform with distribution power via online marketing. This enables brands to easily tap into large new markets and discover new customer segments globally.
Currently, the company operates in over 150 countries with 120 employees and plans to expand even further this year to include gaming, entertainment, shopping, and prepaid money card products.
Today, the Recharge platform serves over 3 million customers with sales of over $500M growing at 50 per cent year-on-year. It expects to reach over $1B within the next two years.
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