Milan-based BNPL platform Scalapay announced that it has raised $155M (approx €131M) in an equity round as part of its Series A funding at a valuation of $700M (approx €591.85M).
With this round, the company has now raised a total of $203M (approx €171.61M) in funding, to date.
The current Series A round was led by Tiger Global, with participation from Baleen Capital and Woodson Capital. The new investors join existing investors Fasanara Capital and Ithaca Investments.
Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital says, “While the likes of Klarna and Afterpay have launched deposit accounts and moved further into the banking space, Scalapay’s exciting roadmap is laser-focused on helping merchants with new customer experiences that increase conversion. They’re leveraging BNPL in an entirely new way.”
Capital utilisation
The proceeds from this round will go towards Scalapay’s growing team and operations. In July, the company appointed Pingki Houang as GM, previously General Director for ShowroomPrive and Chief Executive of FashionCube; and Arlene Reynolds, previously Head of Global Operations for Just Eat, to oversee operations and country expansion.
Additionally, the fresh funding will also help the company to scale internationally and launch new products to support merchants in luxury, fashion, and travel.
What does Scalapay offer?
The company was founded in 2019 by Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski, who were later joined by Raffaele Terrone, Daniele Tessari, and Mirco Mattevi as part of the founding team.
Scalapay lets customers choose its ‘buy now pay later’ option while they checkout by setting up an account in just two to three minutes. Customers can pay using a Visa, Mastercard, Amex, or any other bank account. Once they choose this, the payment gets debited automatically from their accounts on the due dates.
Simone Mancini says, “We are giving customers the ability to enjoy the small pleasures in life without needing to compromise; a favourite fragrance, dress, or romantic weekend. This has become especially important over the past year as many of us rethink what’s important. We want to bring the Italian concept of dolce vita and slowing down to enjoy the small things in life – to the rest of the world, via our partners.”
Scalapay splits the payments into three convenient instalments without any interest. This helps merchants grow their sales, attract new customers, and provide a better customer experience.
For merchant partners, this also helps drive new customers, increases average basket sizes by 48 per cent, and conversion at checkout by 11 per cent.
Since its inception, Scalapay has opened services to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, and Austria. Their team has doubled in size, to over 150 people, since their Seed funding in January 2021.
Recent developments
Scalapay recently became the official sponsor for Milan Fashion Week as the primary ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ platform for fashion merchants in a three-year contract. Brands like Alberta Ferretti, Intimissimi, Liu Jo, Luisa Spagnoli, Moschino, MSGM, Twinset, and many multi-brand retailers have signed up for Scalapay.
Scalapay’s co-founder Johnny Mitrevski says, “We’ve seen strong demand for luxury fashion over the past year, many younger customers are using Scalapay to treat themselves to a Prada bag or Valentino shoes that they love and have been dreaming about. Doing so in a financially responsible way, by paying overtime, adds to the pleasure of making the purchase. We typically see 30-50 per cent of the transactions from our luxury fashion merchants being done with Scalapay, the customer uptake has been very exciting.”
Scalapay claims that its payment solution has provided 3,000+ merchant partners with an immense impact, marking the platform as one of the most used payment methods in Southern Europe and the highest-ranking payment solution on Trustpilot as it relates to customer satisfaction.
Earlier this year in January, Scalepay raised €40M in its Seed funding led by Fasanara Capital, Baleen Capital, and Italian family office Ithaca Investments. The company is on a mission to provide a global platform that is based on “pleasure and better consumption choices”.
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