Navro, a London-based payments fintech, has raised $41m in funding, which it will use to expand globally and fund an upcoming crypto product.
Founded by Aran Brown and Eddie Harrison in 2022, Navro creates application programming interfaces (APIs) — tools enabling different software to interact — allowing international businesses to send and receive international payments with a variety of payment options.
“We aim through one API to aggregate all of the payment optionality that our clients need,” Brown tells Sifted.
The UK fintech has previously raised $38.9m in total funding from investors including Fin Capital and Better Tomorrow Ventures. Jump Capital leads Navro’s latest round with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Motive Partners, and Unusual Ventures, valuing the company at “north of $100m”, according to Brown. Jump Capital partner Robb Hutchins will join the company’s board of directors as part of the transaction.
Making payments pay
A year ago, Navro worked primarily with marketplaces and ecommerce businesses. Since then, it’s switched focus on the payroll space, which now accounts for 60% of operations.
Narvro serves employer of record providers, which allow businesses to hire and manage employees in multiple jurisdictions without having to establish a local entity, pension administration companies or large enterprises handling payroll for internationally-based employees.
“It becomes really complex for these massive corporate businesses to go and open local bank accounts in 55 different markets,” says Brown. “That’s really where we’re starting to see a lot of traction.”
Navro makes money by charging either a fixed fee or a percentage-based fee on top of each transaction, along with a foreign exchange charge where applicable. Brown declined to share details on revenue figures but says the company expects to process $2bn in annualised payment volumes by the end of this year.
Crypto push and expansion
Navro holds regulatory licences in the UK and across the European Union. It recently became a registered payments platform in Canada and has started the process to obtain money transfer licenses in the US.
Currently, Navro clients can collect funds locally in 35 locations, and hold, convert and make payouts in more than 200 countries and 140 currencies.
Brown describes the US as a huge focus for the company, but also describes expanding into Asia, particularly Dubai, Hong Kong and India, as a priority for Navro post-Series B.
Navro says it plans to roll out integration with stablecoins — a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the value of a fiat currency — by the end of this year.
“We see a really big opportunity on the payroll side to be able to move money there in a much more efficient and cost-effective way,” says Brown.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/navro-fundraise/
