Zilch has secured an additional US$50mn taking the total raise for its Series C to US$160mn, whilst also maintaining its US$2bn valuation.
The BNPL provider will be using the new capital to help with its business growth, focusing on the US, after it recently opened its Miami office earlier this year and launched with more than 150,000 pre-registered customers.
Philip Belamant, CEO & Co-Founder, said, “This extension is a great endorsement of our unique model as well as our investors’ belief in our ability to deliver on our mission to create the worldʼs most empowering way for people to pay for anything, anywhere.”
BNPL facing new regulation rules
The funding announcement follows the recent government news that BNPL firms are set to face regulation in the UK as HM Treasury sets out a framework for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to review the sector.
Zilch worked with the FCA as part of the Sandbox Programme from inception and was one of the UKʼs first BNPL providers to be granted an FCA license to perform regulated Consumer Credit activities. It is already fully compliant with the framework set out by HMT.
Sean OʼConnor, Co-Founder, said: “Since we founded Zilch and began raising capital, the markets have been difficult to predict given COVID and now the downturn the markets are currently seeing. We believe our focus on alignment with the consumer, delivered by our innovative business model, has the potential to create significant long-term value for shareholders. Our extensive investment in communicating this message and developing our international network of renowned private, family office and institutional investors has enabled us to secure this extension at the same terms as our Series C, which is a testament to their belief in our significant market opportunity, and our ability to execute against it.”
Developing a real-time view of customers
Earlier this year, Zilch partnered with Experian, to pioneer reciprocal reporting of payment plans to the credit reporting agencyʼs (CRAʼs) data set. This ensures consumersʼ financial health by providing greater transparency and accuracy, while rewarding customers for their responsible behaviour.
Alongside this, Zilch already utilises a blend of Open Banking technology combined with so credit checks and its own proprietary behavioural data each time a customer spends. This allows Zilch to develop a real-time view of a customerʼs financial health, creating a 360 degree picture of a customerʼs affordability profile, and provide accurate, individualised spending recommendations,
“In a world of rising interest rates and inflation, it has never been more important for customers to have access to a payment product that they can depend on for savings, deals and cash flow management with no interest or late fees of any kind. Open Banking data shows how customers of all ages are migrating away from traditional high-cost credit cards or overdrafts in favour of services like Zilch – saving them millions,” added Belamant.