MADRID, 28 May. (Portaltic/EP) -
The company SumUp, which allows small businesses to accept credit and debit cards securely and through mobile devices, has just closed a financing round in which it will have Groupon and American Express as new investors, in addition to the existing ones. The fund will promote, among other things, the expansion of SumUp, which already operates in Spain, into new markets.
This new capital injection comes after a first round of financing of tens of millions of euros in the second quarter of 2012 and carried out by b-to-v Partners, Shortcut Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures and business angels. All of them have also participated this time, adding the contribution of Groupon and American Express.
With just one app and a free card reader, the system turns any iPhone, iPad or Android device into a point-of-sale terminal. In this way, taxi drivers, cafes, artists, restaurants, shops and many other businesses can accept card payments anywhere and at any time.
SumUp is certified by Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) which ensures that all trades are processed using the highest security standards. In addition, it has been certified as PCI-DSS in order to ensure easy and secure payment processing.
Through this round of financing, it aims to boost its expansion to other countries. In addition, it will help "consolidate its position as a technological leader", explained the company, since it will make new launches as a direct payment solution between users, incorporated with a certified payment gateway, in addition to new devices and proprietary operations systems.
"We are very pleased to have Groupon and American Express as investors. Both companies share our vision and commitment to supporting small businesses. American Express, one of the largest card issuers in the world, is at the forefront of driving innovation in payment methods. Groupon has shown that it is possible to create a company that in a short period of time will serve millions of small businesses around the world," explains SumUp CEO Daniel Klein.
He also valued the importance of the agreement in the face of the company's objectives: "This combination of different experiences has been decisive to add them as new investors. We are now more prepared than ever to realize our vision of helping small businesses grow by simplifying charging. We're reinventing the point-of-sale experience and helping to improve business-to-customer relationships."
Werner Decker, Senior Vice President of Merchant Services in Europe at American Express, said: "American Express is committed to supporting small businesses and helping them grow. We believe sumup with its current power; added to the ease, convenience and security of its new payment solution between users, it will play a very important role in the mobile payments sector."
The other party involved, Groupon, has also expressed its satisfaction through the words of its Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Jason Harinstein who said: "We are very pleased to be able to invest in SumUp, with whom we have identified as a new leader in the new mobile payments sector outside the United States. We share his vision to transform the way businesses interact with their customers. We are confident in the SumUp team's ability to make this vision a reality."
The deal comes at a good time as it comes after the recent launch of SumUp in Russia, where it has a collaboration with one of the largest card-issuing banks and mobile phone distributors in the Ural country, Svyaznoy Group.
Related links:
- SumUp page
- Article SumUp Europa Press
