UK startup Zilch is taking the “buy now, pay later (BNPL)” boom to the US.
In Nov 2021, the London-headquartered firm secured $110 million in another funding round. Zilch now values at $2 billion – four times what it was worth in its previous private investment round, 9 months earlier.
Two investors, Ventura Capital, an IPO investor that has, in the past, funded Alibaba and Spotify, and Gauss Ventures, led the investment.
Disrupting the US BNPL Market
Zilch intends to use the new funds to set foot in the US. And to get things underway, the startup has already established a Miami office with roughly ten workers focused on its US expansion to get things underway.
The Buy Now Pay Later offer has witnessed increased demand as online sales grew exponentially during the global health crisis. This product allows customers to spread the cost of goods over several months, with no interest.
According to Worldpay data, BNPL made up 2.1 percent of all world e-commerce transactions — around $97 billion — last year.
A Unique Approach
Zilch believes its BNPL strategy would set it apart from the competition. While opponents like Afterpay, Affirm and Klarna add their checkout feature on the websites of chosen shops, Zilch users may pay at any retailer that takes Mastercard.
Zilch’s CEO and creator, Philip Belamant, stated that the company took that course because all BNPL services “look more or less the same.”
“That doesn’t mean they are horrible businesses; they’re simply imitators,” he explained. “In our opinion, you can’t show up late to a party and do the same thing.”
“In fact, we’re leveraging the competitors’ power against them.” We’re going right to shoppers and saying, “Buy now, pay later, wherever you want.”
However, in terms of how it generates money, the firm is identical to its competitors. Zilch charges retailers a modest fee for each transaction performed via its service.
The argument is that businesses are ready to pay these costs since it enhances their sales down the road.
Author Bio
Payment industry guru Taylor Cole is a passionate payments expert who understands the complex world of cutpay merchant services. He also writes non-fiction on subjects ranging from personal finance to stocks to cryptopay. He enjoys eating pie with ice cream on his backyard porch, as should all right-thinking people.