Dapio, a UK-based company that provides cashless payment solutions to businesses, announced that it has raised $3.4 million to support the launch of its “Tap to Pay” app for Android users in the UK and Europe.
Flutterwave, an African payments company, and Techstars co-led the development round. Daniel Gould of Asymmetry Ventures and PactVC were among those who took part.
Dapio, previously Paymob, and not to be confused with the Egyptian payment processor of the same name, allows businesses to accept cashless payments in-store by turning any Android smartphone into a direct card reader terminal.
Microbusinesses and solo operations, particularly those run by migrants, find it difficult to invest in and purchase point-of-sale systems due to their high cost and clumsiness. This has an impact on how they handle consumer payments.
Dapio was launched in 2019 by Du and his co-founder Grigory Gurbanov. In the years since the company has worked with multiple financial institutions to secure permits to operate a mobile app that substitutes card terminals, and it has now secured some funds.
According to the firm, its upcoming ‘Tap to Pay’ mobile software will enable any establishment to take contactless payments quickly with the tap of a card or mobile phone. ZmBIZI and Payment Plus are two of its new partners.
Dapio is now testing its solution with up to 20 businesses. Dapio will have onboarded more than 3,500 merchants by the time it goes live with the few relationships it has established, according to CEO Du.
And, because ZmBIZI and Payment Plus are powering Dapio’s growth across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, co-lead investor Flutterwave will be crucial when it comes to expanding into Africa and the Middle East.
Flutterwave had only made one public investment in Ivorian fintech CinetPay and was focused on expanding its footprint on the continent, thus an investment outside of Africa appeared unlikely.
Nonetheless, the fintech startup is focused on expanding into developed markets, and investing in companies there, such as Dapio, is part of a long-term strategy stated by CEO Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola in a February interview.
Du went on to say that the most important aspect of Dapio is that it allows micro and small enterprises to take payments, which is what drives current economic shifts and why Flutterwave backed his startup. Flutterwave wanted the company to be a part of its bigger purpose as a result.
