Playter raises $1.7m to bring ‘buy now pay later’ to the B2B space
Playter, a London-based growth platform that helps startups scale quicker with buy now, pay later (BNPL) invoicing, has today announced the closing of $1.7m in seed funding. The round was co-led by global investment firm Fin Capital and 1818 Ventures, with participation from award-winning venture capital RLC Ventures, and investment network Angels.
The funding comes as Playter has grown over 1,000% in size and revenue in recent months and is using the injection in capital to sustain growth in the coming months.
Jamie Beaumont, founder and CEO of Playter, said: “Accessing funds for businesses can be a painful, complex and time consuming experience, but we’re here to fix that. Our subscriptions offer clients access to easy, fast and affordable funding to spread their services into manageable payments. We’re helping businesses increase their liquidity and stretch their cash flow further and for longer.”
For SMEs, Playter reduces a business’ burn rate, increases runway, and allows them to take control of all payment terms regardless of the supplier. Instead of businesses being only allowed to use BNPL for their online purchases, Playter will allow startups to use it on their own services expenses and free up capital that can be used to invest in growth.
Beaumont continues: “We’ve designed this platform for businesses who want to convert their invoices into smaller, more manageable payments and take advantage of upfront discounts. We’ve effectively given businesses full control over how they use BNPL in their growth.
“Playter allows innovators to scale at speed with fast, flexible funding. We’re shaking things up for the B2B BNPL space and beyond.”
Since its inception in 2021, Playter has powered its service across a variety of industries spanning technology and consumer finance with clients including REalyse, Wiserfunding and more. The forward-thinking platform allows businesses to unlock up to £300,000 with no interest costs or revenue sharing with a simple subscription fee starting from as little as £550 per month.
Henry Cashin, head of Europe at Fin Capital, said: “We are excited about the new generation of B2B embedded BNPL fintechs in the wake of the success of Klarna, Affirm, and Block/Afterpay. We are bullish on what the team at Playter is building and the great early traction they are seeing. B2B embedded BNPL is the next big wave in this space and we look forward to supporting Jamie and the team as they scale.”
Marc Cohen, partner at 1818 Venture Capital, said: “When we first met Jamie, we were incredibly impressed with the quality of the product he had built (as a solo founder). Playter helps companies turn any invoice into BNPL to help them manage their cash flow and spend now on what really matters. As investors in many fast-growing startups, this immediately struck us as a hugely valuable product that fills an obvious market gap. Jamie himself is a founder of the highest quality and this made Playter an easy investment for us to make.It is our pleasure to support his and Playter’s journey.” Marc has also joined Playter’s board.
Playter’s seamless model means that SMEs can apply in just five minutes and access funds in as little as 24 hours from gaining access to the platform. Business owners keep full control with no dilution or restrictive debt.
Looking ahead, Playter will continue to build on its unique approach to scaling businesses to set a new standard for SME funding with speed and simplicity.
