• Instant payment provider Lopay lands £6m in seed funding from BackedVC, Portage, The Venture Collective and a string of angel investors
• More than 20,000 small businesses are already using Lopay to take card payments, and the start-up is set to process more than £400m in payments in 2023
• Success is underpinned by Lopay’s instant payment option and low fees, which are as little as a third of those charged by the industry’s big beasts

London, 11th October 2023 — The instant payment start-up Lopay has secured £6m in seed funding from BackedVC, Portage, The Venture Collective and a series of high-profile angel investors.

Founded in January 2022 by Richard Carter, Lopay is a payment app that enables small businesses to take card payments from their customers for a fraction of the cost charged by the corporate payment providers. Lopay users also have the option to receive cleared funds into their bank account the instant a transaction is made.

Since launch, more than 20,000 small businesses across all sectors have signed up. Together they’ve used Lopay to take nearly 10 million customer payments. 

Lopay’s instant settlement and uniquely low fees – which are less than a third of those charged by PayPal and half those levied by SumUp and Zettle – have been central to its rapid growth. Lopay estimates that its competitive pricing has saved merchants more than £1m in card fees since launch. The company expects to process a further £500m in card payments in the next 12 months, saving its customers as much as £2.6m in fees.

The brand’s simple but compelling pitch to small businesses – keep more of the money you make – has been championed by industry bodies including the National Federation of Builders.

Its successful funding round is all the more impressive as it comes amid a sharp slowdown in venture capital investment. Worldwide VC funding almost halved during the first six months of 2023, with investment in European start-ups plunging by 69%.¹

Richard Carter, Founder of Lopay commented: “Lopay’s mission has resonated with thousands of small businesses and sole traders who are being squeezed simultaneously by high inflation and fragile customer demand.

“Against that backdrop, the big beasts of the card payment industry have been poor champions of small business. Their high fees mean too many small firms are paying up to 300% more than they need to – or waiting up to three business days – to receive card payments from their customers.

“By contrast, Lopay’s easy-to-use app and card reader give small businesses an instant way to save money on every sale they make. More than 20,000 firms have already found that switching to Lopay is a small step that makes a big difference to their bottom line, and that’s why several of the UK’s leading industry bodies have chosen to partner with us.

“Since launch we’ve focused on building robust financial architecture and hiring a talented, committed team. With this solid platform for growth, we’re now ready to scale – and we’ll be using this major injection of seed capital to launch internationally and develop new products that save small businesses even more money.”

Juliette Souliman, Principal at Portage, added: “Lopay is breaking new ground in the archaic mobile POS payment industry, saving thousands of small businesses time and money as they navigate the post-pandemic business landscape. 

“We are proud to co-lead Lopay’s seed funding round alongside Backed VC as they continue to take on the industry’s biggest players. Lopay’s founder, Richard Carter, is a forward-thinking leader, and we are thrilled to support him and the team.” 

Caitlin Herling, Investor at The Venture Collective, added: “Lopay’s mission to empower SMEs through low cost processing, settlement flexibility and rewards aligns deeply with our human empowerment thesis.

“Strong demand for their product among this underserved customer set, combined with their exciting product development pipeline and an exceptional team, made us thrilled to support Lopay as they become the go-to solution for small businesses.”  

ENDS

About Lopay

Lopay is the payment app that gives small businesses more. The UK-based company allows businesses to take card payments anywhere and any time, either through a mobile app or with a free card reader.

It charges a fraction of what the big corporates do. Starting at just 0.79%, Lopay’s transaction fee is less than half that charged by SumUp, Zettle and Square, allowing small businesses, traders and drivers to keep more of the money they’ve earned.

Lopay was founded in 2022 by Richard Carter, the fintech entrepreneur behind OrderPay, the UK’s leading pay-at-table technology provider for hospitality businesses, and the customer loyalty platform Payment Loyalty.

Richard began his career at Accenture and was part of the founding team at the venture-backed Ecrebo, a point of sale marketing platform that has delivered more than 7 billion targeted promotions to retailers across North America and Europe.

www.lopay.com