B2B payments platform Billhop raises EUR 10.5 mln

The funding will be used to scale, including hiring (particularly tech and marketing roles), customer acquisition, and geographical expansion. 

Credit cards allow users to benefit from the interest-free credit period until the card statement is due, while also offering a good user experience. This has led to cards becoming the preferred method of payment for consumers globally, with B2C card acceptance reaching 99% in some markets. On the B2B side, however, card acceptance is fractional worldwide – suppliers neither want to set up the card acceptance infrastructure required, nor do they want to pay the processing fees associated with accepting commercial card payments. As such, the most common B2B payment method is bank-to-bank transfers in some markets, cheques, or wire transfers. 

Billhop manages the complete payment process for its business customers without having to onboard the company’s vendors. Vendors don’t need to change anything in their existing accounts receivables process; they simply get paid directly into their usual bank account through a bank-to-bank transfer. Companies take advantage of simplified processes and potential opportunities to optimise working capital.

The B2B payment market is worth USD 120 trillion, but is largely untapped by credit cards due to the low card acceptance within B2B. Billhop has seen growth by creating wins for the card industry, including card schemes, acquirers, and commercial issuers – providing access to the B2B vertical, without cannibalising other products and without any implementation or investment required, the company states.

Sweden-based Billhop serves over 20 markets, catering to Fortune 500 enterprise customers across Europe; and sole traders and SMEs in the UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, and Finland. Operating with a team of 19 people, 65,000 customers have been successfully onboarded and Billhop works closely with all major card payment networks and a handful of global commercial issuers. Currently, Billhop processes EUR 250 million in transaction volumes annually. In 2021, Billhop doubled its team, including key hires from Stockholm’s rich pool of talent in fintech and payments.