Byron Bay-based real-time payments to merchants fintech Zepto (formerly Split Payments) has raised $25 million in a Series A.
The round was led by Sydney VC’s AirTree Ventures and Decade Partners.
The money will be tagged for domestic growth and international expansion, strategic hires and developing new functionality for Zeptos on top of the new payment platform (NPP) when PayTo real-time payments are introduced in mid-2022.
Late last year, Zepto became both the first non-bank fintech approved to connect directly to the NPP as a “connected institution,” and the first non-bank payment provider Accredited Data Recipient (ADR) under the Consumer Data Right (CDR). ).
Zepto’s offshore push will begin by offering its payment solutions to New Zealand businesses, also supporting the expansion of its Australian merchant clients into the Kiwi market.
Zepto started four years ago in a garage in Byron Bay, a holiday resort on the coast of northern NSW, as Split Payments, co-founded by friends Matt Cheers, Trevor Wistaff, Ian Lennie and Adrian Kennedy. The API integrated infrastructure was originally developed by the four founders to solve their own payment problems in their skydiving. The fintech was renamed Zepto in August last year.
CEO Chris Jewell said the fintech was delighted to secure its first external financing round.
“Innovation in the real-time payments and open financing landscape is enabling merchants worldwide to create a new paradigm when it comes to customer experience,” he said.
“We plan to use this capital to grow our team and technology in meaningful, powerful ways while meeting the demands of an ever-changing domestic market, and to accelerate Zepto’s expansion into international markets.”
The company now facilitates more than $4 billion in monthly payment volumes and is on track to process more than $50 billion in payments this calendar year.
In the past 15 months, Zepto has also doubled its workforce to nearly 100 employees and factories to double its workforce again by the end of the year.
Tom Hordern, co-founder of Decade Partners, said Zepto is one of the fastest growing players in this field. Traders choose Zepto because it is fast, secure and most importantly, developer first and foremost. These traits are key to Zepto’s success and Decade Partners believe it can be traced back to Zepto’s exceptional team and culture.”