PayPal Leads PPRO Investment
Cross-border e-payments specialist PPRO announced an investment this week from PayPal. The leading payments provider led the $50 million funding round with participation from Citi Ventures and HPE Growth Capital.
London-based PPRO enables local, alternative payment methods for merchants and other payment service providers – including PayPal.
“A merchant’s choice of payments partner is increasingly being driven by the ever-expanding range of locally relevant payment methods available,” said Arnold Goldberg, vice president of merchant product and technology for PayPal.
“PayPal is pleased to support PPRO as the company continues to grow. We recently signed a commercial agreement with them to provide a wide range of payment options for our merchants, so consumers can shop seamlessly across borders through the new PayPal Checkout with Smart Payment Buttons, Braintree and all of our merchant products. This is yet another way we are positioning ourselves to be the one-stop solution for global digital commerce,” he said.
PayPal has been on a spending spree this year, building up its capabilities by acquiring Stockholm-based payment facilitator iZettle and, more recently, Hyperwallet, which enables localized, multi-currency payments for platforms globally. Recent media reports also indicated that the company is interested in more acquisitions.
For its part, PPRO will use the investment to expand its platform and its international presence, the companies said in a press release.
“PPRO is a pioneer in providing value-added acquiring services for alternative payment methods and we are one of the fastest growing fintech businesses in Europe,” said Simon Black, CEO, PPRO Group. “Adding support from PayPal and Citi Ventures alongside our existing investors will make it possible to bring the benefits of alternative payment method acceptance to even more businesses around the world.”
The investment is expected to close during the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approvals.