PayPal Ventures has led an €18+ million Serie A extension for Berlin-based corporate card platform Pliant as it prepares for expansion into the UK.
Founded in 2020, Pliant’s credit card platform enables companies to issue physical, virtual and one-time credit cards that integrate into business back-end enterprise resource planning software.
The company also services other fintech firms with an embedded card platform that they can offer to thier clients. Recent signings include Candis, an invoice management software company, and Circula, a travel expense and employee benefits software provider.
Ashish Aggarwal, partner with PayPal Ventures, comments: “Pliant has emerged as a leading player in B2B payments in continental Europe, thanks to its next-generation, multi-tenant credit card-as-a-service platform that allows easy integration via application programming interfaces or embedded user interfaces. We are proud to be backing the company on their growth path.”
Existing investors SBI Investment, Motive Ventures, and Alstin Capital also participated in the round which brings Pliant’s total Series A financing to more than €50 million.
This additional financing comes on the heels of solid performance in 2023, when Pliant more than doubled its annual revenues. The company has successfully passported its Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license to 25 countries across the European Economic Area (EEA), allowing Pliant to not only issue cards in these countries but also to provide additional financial products and services.
Malte Rau, CEO of Pliant, said, “We are excited to welcome PayPal Ventures as a new shareholder, and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow the company as we expand into new markets, starting with the UK.”
To facilitate its expansion, Pliant has developed multi-currency capabilities and can now offer its services in 11 currencies. This will allow customers to be billed in the same currency in which the transaction was paid, a useful service for companies with significant transaction volumes in non-EUR currencies.