Checkout.com triples valuation, becomes Europe’s biggest FinTech

By Sunniva Kolostyak

Connected payments provider and unicorn Checkout.com has closed a $450 million Series C funding round, announcing it has become the most valuable venture-backed business in EMEA with a post-money valuation of $15 billion.

When the FinTech announced its Series B in June 2020, it was valued at $5.5bn – and in just six months, it has dethroned Swedish Klarna and its $10.65 billion valuation.

The Series C was led by Tiger Global Management, followed by Greenoaks Capital, Insight Partners, DST Global, Coatue Management, Blossom Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC. It also makes Checkout.com the fourth largest FinTech globally.

Commenting on the funding, Guillaume Pousaz, CEO and Founder of Checkout.com said the investors bring relevant experience from across payments, technology and scaling companies – crucial knowledge for the company’s future growth and steps towards building the future of ‘Connected Finance’.

“Payments affect everything from the customer journey to a business’s ability to enter new markets or launch new products. This latest fundraise reflects our market-leading position and the size of our aspirations as we accelerate in our mission to empower merchants to build better products, drive more revenue and create innovative business models by reimagining interactions with financial services,” Pousaz said.

In the announcement, Checkout.com noted that profits from current operations will continue to be reinvested to power future growth, and the new funding will be used to further grow its balance sheet and drive new innovative opportunities.

The FinTech has raised a total of $830 million within the last two years, a balance sheet which can allow for continued strategic investments and product developments – such as the Checkout.com Payouts solution which saw exponential growth over the last year.

Commenting on Checkout.com’s funding, Sudeepto Mukherjee, Managing Partner, Financial Services at digital transformation consultancy Publicis Sapient, said: “It shows that investors continue to believe in the growth of e-commerce and the need for merchants to have a strong online payments/checkout infrastructure.

“Merchants want more flexibility and control and so are looking for alternatives to the Amazon model. The continued growth of firms like Shopify, Stripe, Square and now Checkout.com shows that there is room for new entrants to differentiate as this sector continues to grow at a high pace with COVID accelerating the shift to digital for retailers.”

Moreover, Checkout.com also announced the opening of its New York City office and its intentions to launch an office in Denver. The company first launched in the US in 2017 and has operations in San Francisco. Globally, Checkout.com will hire an additional 700 people across all its locations in 2021.