SumUp, a British payments startup, received 285 million euros ($306.6 million) in an investment led by Sixth Street Growth and Bain Capital Tech Opportunities. According to SumUp Chief Financial Officer Hermione McKee, the new funds "will allow the company to explore more opportunities," including acquisitions and expansion into new countries. The company also confirmed that it is now worth more than it was when it raised 590 million euros ($635.3 million) to obtain an 8 billion euro ($8.6 billion) valuation back in the summer of 2022.
SumUp, a British payments company known for its card readers, has raised €285 million ($306.6 million) in a funding round that values the company at over $8.6 billion. The round was led by Sixth Street Growth, with participation from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, Fin Capital, and Liquidity Group. While mostly equity, some of the funds were raised as debt. According to SumUp Chief Financial Officer Hermione McKee, the new capital provides the company with "more firepower" to pursue global growth opportunities, such as its foray into Australia this August. SumUp reported it was last valued at €8 billion in 2022 and mentioned its valuation was higher this time around, despite overall venture valuations decreasing across all stages in the third quarter of this year.
Earlier in 2020, current holders of SumUp stock unloaded their interests in the company at a great bargain compared to its recent appraisal. One source, Groupon, said in a filing released by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was selling SumUp shares at a figure that put the firm's value at just 3.9 billion euros ($4.2 billion).
SumUp, which competes with Jack Dorsey's Block, formerly known as Square, iZettle, FIS' WorldPay, Stripe, and Adyen, has recently been expanding into new lines of business. This includes the launch of a service which allows merchants to apply for a cash advance or business loan up to a certain limit based on their card sales revenue. To support this offering, the payments firm secured a $100 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital over the summer. SumUp Chief Strategy Officer, Greta McKee, reported that the majority of their merchant clients have been repaying their loans in a timely manner. She also added that they have not seen any negative indicators over the last 6 months.
The payments firm also unveiled new point-of-sale offerings, such as self-service kiosks that enable customers to order in stores through a touchscreen interface. SumUp also unveiled Apple's Tap to Pay feature in the U.K. and Netherlands, and has further upgraded their existing point-of-sale systems with their POS Lite and POS Pros countertop systems. In terms of their future plans, the firm intends to explore more M&A opportunities to facilitate their international expansion. While there are no immediate plans to go public, (McKee said that they have ample access to private capital, and thus there is no need to IPO), she stated that they are continuously improving their processes to meet the standard of public markets.
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