Blockchain FinTech PYYPL raises $11M Series A
The UAE-based Blockchain Tech startup Pyypl announced its $11M Series A to power end-to-end payment solutions and a first of its kind Blockchain On-Demand Liquidity
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One of the region’s fastest-growing FinTechs, Pyypl (pronounced “People”), announces it has raised $ 11M in Series A financing with participation from a diverse group of international family offices and HNWI’s. Backed by a diverse group of investors from Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East - the funding round was over-subscribed. This follows significant investment in previous rounds from Global Ventures, a UAE-based, international venture capital firm.
The international blockchain technology-based company provides digital payments and financial services for smartphone users to carry out online transactions, without the need for a bank account or credit card. Headquartered in United Arab Emirates, Pyypl was awarded a prestigious “2021 Global Visionary” award by Ripple, and recently became the first-ever company in the Middle East to deploy a “Blockchain On-Demand Liquidity” solution for its customer cross-border transfers, in partnership with Ripple. Earlier in 2021, Visa and Pyypl announced the Middle East and Africa Strategic Partnership Agreement, further positioning Pyypl as a leader in the region’s FinTech sector.
The Fintech sector in MENA gained more momentum in 2021 as recorded in our State of Startup Funding- 2022 Emerging Venture Markets Free Report. This was reflected in FinTech rounds closed in UAE including the likes of payments provider Tabby and Crypto-powered FinTech BitOasis, FinTech rounds in Bahrain by payment gateway provider Tarabut Gateway and Crypto Exchange platform CoinMENA, and across MENA with major rounds closed by Rasan Information Technology (KSA), Expensya (Tunis), and Dopay (Egypt). While the industry reigned atop the most active industries in MENA 2021 observing a 44% YoY growth in number of transactions, it made out second in terms of VC investment after Food & Beverage which made a stellar come back this year. In the UAE, the FinTech space has been providing intricate and specialized payment solutions with startups like BNPL provider PostPay, peer-to-peer payment platform Ziina, and Cards-as-a-Service startup SimpliFi observing fundraising success and investor traction over the past year. This gave rise to the space, where UAE-based FinTech startups observed more than 100% YoY growth in VC funding over 2021 as recorded in our UAE 2022 Venture Investment Report.
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The Middle East and Africa region is ripe for FinTech sector growth, and Pyypl is carving out a niche position. The region has two billion people and it is the fastest-growing, with a high adoption rate of smartphones. Despite this, the majority are without access to essential financial services and there is no multi-billion-dollar FinTech company, such as Revolut (Europe), Chime (North America), Nubank (Latin America) or Ant Financial (Asia). Antti Arponen, Founder and CEO of Pyypl, commented, “Pyypl is on a mission to serve MEA’s huge consumer base. Hundreds of millions of people, whilst having a mobile phone and internet connection, are either completely unbanked, or severely under-served in their daily financial services... We welcome all our new investors to our financial inclusion journey, and we couldn’t be more excited to enter the next phase of our growth.”
With connections to numerous global financial institutions facilitating cross-border money transfers, Pyypl’s solutions cover many key remittance corridors in the region, and the company is excited about expanding its availability of essential financial services including remittance products to further the Middle East and African markets in 2022. Paul Goldfinch, Pyypl CFO, added, “Pyypl is in the right industry, in the right geographies, at the right time, evidenced by the 10x growth in business volumes we have generated in the last 12 months. We are very pleased to have a successful, over-subscribed investment round, and welcome our new investors.”
Pyypl’s card services have been used by its rapidly expanding customer base at thousands of merchants globally, in over a hundred different currencies, by customers from over a hundred nationalities. The UAE-based FinTech will invest its newly acquired funds into continuing its rapid growth in its core GCC markets and expand further in Africa – particularly Kenya and Mozambique.
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