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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Company funds startup Payhawk informed CNBC it’s planning mergers and acquisitions to develop its footprint within the U.S. and tackle huge gamers within the house like SAP and venture-backed companies Brex and Ramp.
The startup mentioned it’s seeking to purchase a U.S. firm or firms on the collection A stage of their growth, referring to early-stage startups which have already raised a major spherical of funding.
In an interview with CNBC, Hristo Borisov, Payhawk’s CEO and co-founder, mentioned he thinks his agency has a greater “product-market match” than its rivals, which have gained multibillion-dollar valuations by handing out free company playing cards to different startups.
“We see a possibility to have significantly better unit economics on this enterprise,” Borisov informed CNBC on the Cash 20/20 convention in Amsterdam, Netherlands, this week. “We imagine firms like Brex and Ramp nonetheless have not discovered sturdy product market match for what this potential market goes to be.”
Payhawk is a company spend administration platform that points good playing cards for shoppers’ staff to make funds and hold monitor of their bills. Decathlon and Vinted are amongst its prospects.
Within the U.S., Payhawk has partnered with American Categorical underneath the bank card big’s Sync Industrial Associate Program. This enables it to subject digital playing cards which earn rewards primarily based on consumer spending.
Consolidation the secret
Payhawk recorded big progress within the first quarter, the corporate informed CNBC. It revealed that income climbed 84% globally year-over-year, and gross sales jumped 127% within the U.Ok. — a market that now makes up 27% of general income.
Payhawk’s progress got here off the again of a major improve in shoppers. The agency mentioned it noticed a 58% improve in prospects year-over-year within the three months ending March, with the U.Ok., once more, a serious driver.
Now, Payhawk needs to develop its U.S. footprint in an enormous method — and M&A will likely be a key to unlocking that progress, in accordance with Borisov.
“Many companies that bought funded in final two or three years are actually able the place they’re taking a look at strategic choices,” Borisov mentioned. “That is one thing we’re actively doing. We’re in search of firms to purchase.”
“Our imaginative and prescient is to have the ability to present a single platform that gives a homogeneous atmosphere your company expense wants with a single supplier,” Borisov mentioned. “There’s going to be some market consolidation.”
Objective to develop into a public firm
Requested whether or not his agency was seeking to increase new enterprise funding to realize its goals, Borisov mentioned that Payhawk is at all times in fundraising conversations.
He added that its renewed progress over the previous 12 months had garnered curiosity from exterior buyers, after a harder 2022 and early 2023.
“Fundraising is on a regular basis,” he mentioned. “It is not as a result of we’d like cash. The worst time to fundraise is if you want the cash.”
“We’re talking to buyers every day, understanding the place the market is,” Borisov added. “Companions who do imagine in that imaginative and prescient see the identical method.”
Payhawk could look to boost a brand new enterprise spherical both this 12 months or subsequent 12 months, Borisov added. The agency, backed by enterprise companies Lightspeed, Greenoaks, and Earlybird, has raised $240 million so far.
He mentioned his final aim is for Payhawk to develop into a publicly listed firm, although there isn’t any date but for the agency to launch a public market debut.
“Our final aim is to IPO the corporate, that is one thing we’re centered on,” Borisov mentioned. “This actually relies upon in the marketplace circumstances and market realities.”
