Based out of Auckland, New Zealand — Laybuy is a fintech company that provides buy now, pay later services partnering with over 9,000 retail merchants.
Raised A$35M
Recently, the fintech company has secured A$35 million (approx £24.7 million) from new and existing institutional investors.
The placement will be completed in two phases with phase one issuing 26,169,334 shares to institutional and sophisticated investors at A$0.50 per share, raising a total of A$13.1 million before costs.
Phase two which is subject to shareholder approval will see 43,830,666 shares issued at 50 cents to raise the remaining A$21.9 million.
Funding and partnership
The funding will be used to invest in technology, marketing, and hire people to accelerate Laybuy’s growth in the UK market.
In addition to the funding round, Laybuy also confirmed its strategic partnerships with Rakuten, AWIN, and Sovrn, which will see Laybuy customers having access to over 5,000 merchants in the UK, including household brands ASOS, Nike, Marks & Spencer, Amazon, and eBay.
Now, the customers can use Laybuy’s “Tap to Pay” digital card with these merchants, allowing them to pay with Laybuy both online and in-store without further merchant integration or direct relationship required.
Buy Now, Pay later
Founded in 2017 by Gary Rohloff, Laybuy lets customers shop now, receive their purchase straight away, and pay it off over six weekly payments without paying interest. The company operates in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and the USA.
Laybuy directly competes against Klarna, a Stockholm-based e-Commerce payment solutions platform for merchants and shoppers.
“The opportunity in the UK market should not be underestimated. The UK has a retail market approximately 2.2 times larger than the Australian market in terms of overall spending. It is also a market where a higher proportion of retail spending is online, and where BNPL is still in early stages of adoption,” says Rohloff.
“Laybuy is already widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading BNPL providers, with consumers spending more than £151 million through Laybuy in the past year, up 504% on the prior year.
“This capital raise is an important step for Laybuy, enabling the company to continue its strong momentum and to capitalise on the significant growth opportunity in the UK market. We believe this will maximise shareholder value in the longer term.”
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