European fintech SumUp raises €590 million
- Dan Primack, author of Axios Pro Rata
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
SumUp, a London-based maker of point-of-sale payments solutions for small businesses, raised €590 million in equity and debt funding led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities at an €8 billion valuation.
Why it matters: This reflects softening valuations for European fintech, given reports from earlier this year that investors were floating a €20 billion mark for SumUp.
Caveat: This is still a massive step-up for the company, which last raised equity funding in 2017. Or, put another way, SumUp isn't in the same boat as Swedish fintech Klarna — once Europe's most valuable startup with a $45 billion valuation, which now is said to be seeking new funds at around $15 billion.
Details: The round was split evenly between equity and debt. Other investors include BlackRock, btov Partners, Centerbridge, Crestline, Fin Capital and Sentinel Dome Partners.
The bottom line: "I can very comfortably say the €8 billion is a true and fair valuation, because that's the price people put on the company in the worst of markets... In this environment we think we will see good opportunities for M&A deals once people realize that money is not free any more." — SumUp CEO Marc-Alexander Christ to the FT