IZettle raises EUR40m

IZettle raises EUR40m

Swedish mPOS outfit iZettle has raised EUR40 million in a series c funding round led by London-based growth investor Zouk Capital.

Dawn Capital, Intel Capital, and previous investors Creandum, Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, Northzone and SEB Private Equity all participated in the round, which is thought to value iZettle at around EUR200 million.

IZettle launched its dongle and app system for turning mobile phones into payment card acceptance devices in Sweden in 2011. It has since expanded throughout Europe into the UK, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

The latest funding will be used to grow the business, especially in new markets such as Latin America, where the firm has recently set up shop in Brazil and Mexico.

Zouk Capital's Nathan Medlock, who is joining the iZettle board, says: "Building on its early successes in Europe, we're excited about iZettle's growth plans, and believe this round will give them the fire power required to execute on the next phase of expansion."

One market iZettle has no current plans to enter is the US, where Square, PayPal and other local players dominate. Square recently felt compelled to squash rumours that it has held talks with Google about a possible sale amid growing losses and a shrinking cash pile.

Comments: (4)

A Finextra member
A Finextra member 09 May, 2014, 10:041 like 1 like

Funny how many investors are still stuck with the old paradigm. With "last inch"-agnostic EMV tokenization, every phone can be mPOS, without any dongles. Not to mention solutions like M-Pesa, Paym etc.

Ritesh Agarwal
Ritesh Agarwal - On My Own - Bangalore 09 May, 2014, 10:19Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Well said Alexander..!

I am really surprised as to what problem are these people trying to resolve...? Currently we have portable card swipe machines, which has trust of customer, while a dongle can be misused to steal a card info. I suspect if customer would actually trust someone with a dongle and a mobile.

Joss Wilbraham
Joss Wilbraham - WMG Consultants Ltd. - Oxford 09 May, 2014, 12:40Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Couldn't agree more Alexander. I wish investors would focus on investing in the truly disruptive mobile payment solutions that aren't based around 60-year old technology.

A Finextra member
A Finextra member 09 May, 2014, 13:50Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

This is truly a great job Jacob pulled off, and moreover an amazing opaque investment. I am wondering what their strategy, USP and business model is.  

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