UK-based ad payment technology startup BillFront raised £27m ($35m) in series A equity and debt financing on Wednesday from investors including financial services firm NIBC Bank and consumer lending group 4Finance.
Finleap, the fintech incubator that helped found BillFront in 2015, also participated in the round. Gründerszene reported that the debt made up the majority of the capital raised.
BillFront has developed a platform that integrates with the invoicing systems of media companies to provide financing of €50,000 ($52,000) up to several million euros per month. The technology counteracts the long delays in payments in the advertising space, which can last up to several months.
The equity funding will be used to further develop BillFront’s software and to hire additional staff, while the debt will be used to provide loans to its clients.
BillFront is currently active in the UK, Spain and the Netherlands and is reportedly forming a partnership with banking platform SolarisBank to launch its services in Germany.
The company previously received €1.2m in seed funding from undisclosed backers in July 2015, though Finleap was listed as a returning investor for the series A round.
Thom Rasser, chief executive of NIBC Bank Deutschland, said: “BillFront’s expertise within the fast growing adtech market, combined with their excellent tech-enabled risk methodology, convinced us to start a partnership with an international fintech for the first time.”