Payflow was born in March 2020, coinciding with the outbreak of the pandemic. Despite the context of economic paralysis, it closed its first round a month later, for an amount of two million euros. The Barcelona startup offers on-demand salaries, that is, it allows workers to collect part of their salary before the end of the month. It does so through a mobile application, which also incorporates financial advice and savings methods, and a cloud platform that integrates with payroll software. According to the company, this functionality helps reduce employee turnover and improve their productivity. It also benefits employees who have difficulty meeting their expenses.
Without having reached its second anniversary, the emerging company has just raised eight million euros in a new round. Venture capitalists Seaya Ventures and Cathay Innovation have participated in the round, as well as the American accelerator Y Combinator, which had already done so previously, and private investors such as Pablo Fernández and Féliz Ruiz. With this second round, the total financing that Payflow has achieved exceeds 12 million euros, comprising those from the first round and the two million euros it obtained by issuing debt.
The resources obtained will serve to continue growing in Spain and continue its internationalization. Currently, the company is present in Chile and Colombia, and expects to start operating in Italy and Portugal this 2022. It plans to expand to a third country in Latin America, yet to be decided, but specifies that it will be one of the large ones, such as Brazil, Mexico, or Peru.
The resources obtained will serve to continue growing in Spain and continue its internationalizationLa startupfounded in the Catalan capital by Avinash Sukhwani and Benoît Menardo has a portfolio of 175 clients. Fashion sector companiesScalpers, Natura, CamperandAristrocrazy; of restorationGrosso Napoletanoand Manolo Bakes; of distributionAravincor the supermarket chainCoviránare some of those that have incorporated the option of on-demand salaries, but so have multinationalsIsdinorWebhelp. All of them add up to 100,000 users that Payflow serves.
After closing the last round, the startup sets the goal of working with more large companies, including those listed on the IBEX 35. To improve its offering, Payflow's technology will incorporate two new functionalities throughout this year, with an eye on becoming a neobank in the coming years.
This growth process will be accompanied by an expansion of the workforce. Currently made up of 45 employees, it is expected to reach between 70 and 100 in 2022. The forecast is that a good part of the team will be in Barcelona and Madrid, equally distributed, and the rest will be in Latin America.