Germany-based mobile payment platform Payleven closed a $10m series D round on Thursday featuring MePay, the joint venture formed by e-commerce holding company Rocket Internet and Philippines-based mobile network Smart Communication.
The round also included Holtzbrinck Ventures, the venture capital firm spun out of publisher Holtzbrinck, as well as Seventure Partners, Ru-Net, B Cinque and New Enterprise Associates (NEA).
Founded and incubated by Rocket Internet in 2012, Payleven provides a mobile payment platform and card reader for small and medium-sized businesses similar to that offered by Square. It plans to use the funding to develop new products and accelerate customer acquisition.
Sven Achter, the Holtzbrinck Ventures general partner that also acts as Payleven chairman, said: “Payleven has an outstanding track record of differentiating in payments through changing the customer experience, offering great technology and tackling an underserved segment.
“This has enabled them to achieve customer payback periods of less than six months, something unheard of in financial services.”
Payleven has now raised $51m in funding altogether, including a ‘high single-digit million dollar amount’ in 2013 from Rocket Internet, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Ru-Net and NEA, and a double-digit euro amount from Holtbrinck, Ru-Net and NEA the previous year.
– Image courtesy of Payleven