Open banking infrastructure provider Yapily has closed a £37 million Series B funding round.
The company will use the funding to enter new markets, including France and Spain, while continuing to invest in existing markets UK, Italy and Germany. It aims to extend open banking to cover 95% of the continent by the end of the year.
The investment is led by Sapphire Ventures while existing investors Lakestar, HV Capital and Latitude also participated in the round.
During Covid-19, Yapily has experienced 3.5x customer growth as global commerce rapidly shifted towards online shopping.
Its infrastructure allows companies to embed open finance into their products and services. This includes improving customers’ payment experiences while saving money on payment fees; securely accessing balances, identity and transaction data; and streamlining account and digital wallet top ups with instant payments.
Yapily is trusted to deliver faster, affordable and personalised products and services by innovative brands including Intuit QuickBooks, GoCardless, American Express, BUX, Volt, Moneyfarm and Vivid Money. As the invisible backbone for open banking, Yapily covers more than 90% of accounts in major European countries with deep open banking knowledge and expertise.
“We are delighted with this strategic investment, demonstrating Yapily’s position at the heart of disrupting global financial infrastructure,” said CEO and founder Stefano Vaccino.
“As we got to know Sapphire Ventures, it was clear that they are hugely supportive of our strategic approach and share our vision of open finance. Open Banking infrastructure is fundamental to how data and payments move between organisations worldwide, and it will shift the power to consumers for years to come.
“We are only starting to scratch the surface of what’s possible. Europe is leading the world in open finance, and consumers and businesses will start to see more innovation from industries such as mortgages, pensions and insurance, with easier access to financial data and payments infrastructure.
“With more frameworks coming into effect around the globe, the time is right to double down on our growth plans by entering regulatory-led markets and enabling companies to build better and fairer financial products and services.”
Andreas Weiskam, Partner and co-founder of Sapphire Ventures, said: “We have been following open finance and the tremendous opportunity it presents in Europe and beyond for some time.
“FinTech is evolving from a vertical to a horizontal sector as companies in many verticals are moving to embed financial services into their offerings. This is a trend we believe is here to stay and relies on the development of a robust financial infrastructure layer.
“The decision to invest in Yapily was clear: an infrastructure-first approach to deliver better and fairer financial services for everyone. Europe is a fast mover in embracing an open and API-centric model, and Yapily is at the epicentre of financial innovation to push the regulatory boundary and shape the future of the open economy.”