Italy-headquartered mobile payment app developer Satispay has secured €68m ($80.6m) in a series C round co-led by internet group Tencent, telecommunications company Telecom Italia and digital payment processor Square.
The corporates co-led the round with asset management group LGT Group’s growth equity subsidiary, LGT Lightstone, while Telecom Italia invested through corporate venturing unit TIM Ventures.
The funding was raised alongside $29.6m of secondary share purchases from existing Satispay investors and the round valued the company at approximately $213m pre-money. It was oversubscribed from the initial €50m target.
Satispay has built a mobile payment system that eschews credit and debit cards in addition to specific banks, requiring only a phone number and international bank account number. The cash will support growth in its home country in addition to Germany and Luxembourg.
The company received $11.7m in mid-2018 from financial services firms Banca Valsabbina and Sparkasse – Cassa di Risparmio di Bolzano as well as Copper Street Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, Greyhound Capital and Club degli Investitori di Torino.
Three other banks – Iccrea, Banca Etica and Banca Sella – joined Shark Bites and various individuals to provide $21.5m for Satispay in 2017 at a $79m post-money valuation, Banca Sella investing through its Sella Ventures unit.
Satispay had secured $3.3m from Iccrea Banca and assorted private investors in 2015, and said the latest round increased its funding to €110m since it was founded in 2013.
