London-based FinTech Zilch has raised a further £80 million of debt and equity funding for its unique ‘buy now, pay later’ product as usage continues to soar.
The latest funding comes from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, DMG Ventures – the venture capital arm of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc – and others.
This investment will enable Zilch to further accelerate its growth with nationwide media campaigns in the UK and the launch of its services in the US.
Zilch’s latest round makes it one of the best-funded European FinTech startups at the Series B stage.
“As our customer numbers continue to grow, we’ve taken the decision to raise additional capital to service this phenomenal demand,” said founder and CEO Philip Belamant.
“As Zilch continues to scale at pace, we’re delighted that well-respected institutions such as Goldman Sachs and DMG Ventures share our vision of what credit should be in today’s world and how that can be delivered directly to customers in the most responsible way.
“By putting our customers first and building direct relationships with each of them, we are doing something no one else in the industry has done before.”
Zilch is one of the first fully regulated BNPL providers in the UK. The investments, which included debt from the Private Credit business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, will accelerate its expansion plans.
Pankaj Soni, Executive Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said: “We’ve been tracking Zilch’s progress over the last 12 months and are impressed with the differentiated and direct to consumer approach that the company has taken to build its offering.
“We are delighted to be supporting their growth and look forward to build on our relationship in the coming years.”
Zilch allows its customers to shop wherever MasterCard is accepted and spread their payment over six weeks for zero interest and zero fees. It says this lightweight, direct-to-consumer model allows Zilch to build direct relationships with its customers and scale significantly faster than its competitors as its deployment strategy is not restricted by borders or merchant acquisition and integration.
Manuel Lopo de Carvalho, CEO at DMG Ventures, added: “We’re excited to be joining as investors in Zilch, supporting Philip and the team. The pace of what they have achieved is phenomenal – the level of adoption Zilch has seen this year alone is remarkable.
“There is a clear opportunity to provide more accessible and responsible credit to UK consumers and we’re delighted to support Zilch in the proliferation of its brand and message to UK customers nationwide.”
This funding round follows a series of announcements from Zilch, including its latest unique feature, Tap and Pay-over-time. The FinTech aims to become the largest BNPL player in-store in the UK without the need for its customers to use barcodes or QR codes.