Banking software integration provider AccessPay told QA Financial today it has raised $24 million in a funding round that was led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm True Ventures.
The payment automation and data transformation platform, which is responsible for testing and monitoring the payment infrastructure of most of Britain’s largest banks and insurance firms, said UK bank NatWest and payment provider Mastercard were among its newest investors.
Allocations also came from Manchester-based investment firm Praetura Ventures, Route 66 Ventures and Beringea. A breakdown of investments was not disclosed, but AccessPay did say the funding comprises of a combination of equity and debt.
The company added it will use the investment to “further propel momentum and expansion,” according to Anish Kapoor, since 2014 the chief executive of AccessPay.
“For us, this funding reflects investor confidence in our vision and potential for long-term growth,” he said. “It will play a crucial role for the latest stage of our evolution.”
“This astute merging of automation, fintech, testing and tooling that improves processes for a massive market is what drew us to invest”.
– Investor Phil Black, True Ventures
Manchester-based AccessPay, launched in 2012, provides secure, cloud-based payment automation software and cash management software solutions through a SaaS platform that has been somewhat of a hit among British banks and large insurers.
Kapoor stressed the fresh funds will be instrumental in driving AccessPay’s focus on profitable growth while bolstering its commitment to increasing revenues in a sustainable manner.
Anish Kapoor
“My role is to lead the company through this hyper-growth phase,” he said.
Moreover, a significant portion of the funding round will be used to boost AccessPay’s research and development team, Kapoor continued.
Also, the company plans to further develop its capabilities in fraud and error prevention, bank statement data and reconciliation automation, and ISO 20022 data transformation, as well as to continue AccessPay’s rapid expansion in the US, he added.
Investors’ views
The uptake of AccessPay’s payments software and other digital solutions, which largely focus on modernising processes across banking operations, with the ultimate goal of minimising the risk of fraud and error, has been growing rapidly in recent years.
Phil Black, co-founder of True Ventures, who led the funding round, said investor appetite for AccessPay is growing as more and more banks require more sophisticated digital tools and applications, and the constant testing, monitoring and safeguarding of existing infrastructure.
“AccessPay simplifies corporate and institutional banking processes by streamlining all bank and finance apps into a shared interface,” he explained.
“This astute merging of automation, fintech, testing and tooling that improves processes for a massive market is what drew us to invest in this team since its seed investment,” Black added.
Co-investor Pete Carway, investment director at Praetura Ventures, said in agreement that “we have admired for years the business that Anish and his team have been building.”
In recent years, AccessPay made a number of remarkable senior hires, and expanded geographically beyond its UK home market, into mainland Europe and the U.S. via partnerships with Sage and Finastra.
“This round of funding will provide us with the financial resources to maximise strategic growth opportunities, including potential acquisitions to sustainably expand its market presence and offerings,” Kapoor concluded.
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