Fintech startup SumUp raises $307 million, defying funding slump

London-based payments startup SumUp announced on Monday that it secured 285 million euros (approximately $306.6 million) in new funding. The funding round was led by Sixth Street Growth, the growth arm of global investment firm Sixth Street, and saw participation from existing investors such as Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, Fin Capital (a fintech investment firm), and Liquidity Group (a debt financing firm).

The majority of the funding comes in the form of equity, with a small portion raised as debt. This latest funding round has propelled SumUp’s valuation to over $8.6 billion, up from $8.4 billion a year ago when the company raised $620 million in June 2022.

SumUp, a rival to Jack Dorsey’s Block, said the fresh capital infusion will give the company “more firepower to act on opportunities that we see arising over the course of the next two years.”

“If we think about our geographical expansion, in August we launched Australia as our 36th market globally,” Chief Financial Officer Hermione McKee told CNBC in an interview last week ahead of the news.

“We have this foothold in Latin America and there’s more expansion that can be done there. Then we look at Asia, how do we think about that region, and then obviously opportunities across Africa. There’s so many opportunities globally. We’re constantly assessing this ‘buy versus build’ strategy.”

This latest funding round marks another step in the company’s ongoing growth. Back in June 2022, we covered SumUp after it achieved a valuation of 8 billion euros (equivalent to $8.6 billion) after raising $620 million ( 590 million euros) in funding led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities to fuel its expansion efforts worldwide.

A SumUp spokesperson confirmed that this recent deal is an “up round,” indicating that the company’s valuation has increased compared to its previous assessment, CNBC reported.

Founded in 2011 by Stefan Jeschonnek, Dr. Jan Deepen, Daniel Klein, and Marc-Alexander Christ, SumUp enables businesses to accept card payments at the point of sale or on the go. SumUp is used by more than 4 million businesses including taxi drivers, coffee shop owners., and large sports stadiums.

SumUp’s financial services Super App also provides merchants with a free business account and card, an online store, and an invoicing solution, as well as in-person and remote payments seamlessly integrated with SumUp’s proprietary card terminals and point-of-sale registers.

SumUp’s team of over 3,000 people supports merchants in 35 countries worldwide, with Peru (launched in June 2022) being the company’s most recent new market. In recent years, SumUp has also expanded into point-of-sale solutions, and with the acquisitions of Goodtill, Tiller, and Fivestars, the company is rapidly expanding its footprint within the restaurant and retail sectors.