The pandemic has accelerated e-commerce by an estimated 5 years according to a recent report by IBM. This global seismic shift has been possible since reliable payment solutions are available, ready to be deployed regardless of country, currency, or language. PPRO is the local payments infrastructure platform that powers some of the industry’s leading solutions including Citi, Mastercard Payment Gateway Services, PayPal, and Worldpay. As companies rush to serve a global, digital market, PPRO’s technology ensures that merchants are able to accept payments globally with customer’s preferred payment methods on payment platforms that they already use. In 2020, the company was able to double its transaction volume year-over-year and increase headcount by 60%.
London TechWatch caught up with CEO Simon Black to learn more about the company’s impression traction, expansion plans, and latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $230M since the company’s founding in 2006. (Reminder – unicorns are not built overnight)
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Investors include Sprints Capital, who was already the lead investor in our last round in August, Eurazeo Growth, Wellington Management. We raised $188M in this round.
Tell us about your product or service.
PPRO provides local payments infrastructure. We help our customers – primarily global payment companies – get the industry’s best conversion rates in markets around the world by allowing online shoppers to pay with their preferred payment method.
What inspired the start of PPRO?
PPRO was founded in Europe originally in 2006 as a sales channel for prepaid cards, back when that was a popular way to pay online. In the following years, the mission evolved as global e-commerce took off. Increasingly, online merchants needed a way to accept payment securely from cross-border customers, who were not using the same payment method as their domestic customers. This is a problem that persists today, as technologies evolve to solve customers’ unique needs and drive change in the payments landscape. That’s where PPRO’s solution comes in; we provide the local payments infrastructure – platform, services, and payment methods – that allow companies to boost sales in any given market. 10 times faster, easier, and more cost-effective than building these capabilities in-house.
How is it different?
In a word: quality. We have a lot of direct, close-to-the-metal integrations to the local payment methods offered on our platform, whereas most of our competitors connect to various payment methods via third-party aggregators. This means we’re able to deliver better conversion rates for our customers and their merchants and – on the other side of the equation – we’re able to help local payment methods innovate and add functionality to their offering.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
We have global customers; mainly payment services providers, banks, and gateways in all corners of the world. It’s a large market and the pandemic made it just bigger.
What’s your business model?
We have a two-sided network that connects payment services providers, banks, and gateways as well as enterprises with payment platforms to the local payment methods they need for their merchant customers all in one place; our platform processes, collects, and settles payments.
How has COVID-19 impacted your business?
We’ve, fortunately, done very well as e-commerce has become increasingly crucial in the pandemic.
What was the funding process like?
Exciting. We are thrilled to have such prestigious investors. They are extremely plugged into our sector, and their confidence in PPRO reflects the great work our team has done as well as the opportunity we have to usher in the next era of local payments infrastructure.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Balancing time between the investment process and supporting the growth of the business. Building relationships with investors in a virtual environment was a new challenge in 2020.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
I believe they see the tremendous growth potential in PPRO, especially considering our sustained success over many years. The payments industry is complicated and constantly evolving. The need for PPRO’s infrastructure – which makes it possible for companies to customise their payment offering 10 times faster, easier, and more cost-effective than building these capabilities in-house – will only increase.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We will continue to release high-quality integrations to important local payment methods around the world. We’re also currently looking into innovation areas such as FX, instant payments, and risk services.
What advice can you offer companies in London that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
All business must constantly manage their budget according to their means. If you have a sound business model, you can get through times when resources are tight by being innovative or by going the extra mile.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
2021 will see PPRO turbocharge our growth. Of course, we will continue to focus on delivering the industry’s best conversion rates to our customers, but we’re also looking forward to scaling our high-quality integrations to local payment methods across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas.
What is your favourite restaurant in London?
The Palomar is one I look forward to going back to; Brasserie Zedel is great for a celebration.
