Insurance firm CNP Assurances has led a €13m ($16.1m) funding round for France-based digital wallet developer Lydia that included Oddo BHF, the financial services group formerly known as Oddo et Cie.
The round was also backed by Xange, the venture capital arm of private equity firm Siparex Sigefi, as well as family office Groupe Duval and NewAlpha Asset Management, which is majority owned by asset management group La Française.
Lydia operates a mobile wallet app that allows customers to make offline purchases using a QR matrix barcode displayed within the app. The platform can also be utilised for online and peer-to-peer transactions.
The funding will enable Lydia to introduce additional services as it targets business growth in France and other European markets including the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. The company has now raised more than $28m to date, it said.
Lydia had raised a total of $820,000 as of early 2014, according to TechCrunch, and received a further $4.5m from Xange, the Duval family and angel investment fund Belcube in November that year.
Hélène Falchier, head of private equity for CNP Assurances, said: “With innovative customer acquisition strategies and stand-out service quality, Lydia has attracted young people and created a real community of users of its app.
“We are delighted to be supporting its expansion in France and Europe and looking together at new services around mobile payment.”