Dapio, a company that offers cashless payment solutions to businesses based in the United Kingdom, said today that it has secured $3.4 million to support the launch of its “Tap to Pay” app for Android users in the United Kingdom and Europe.
The development round was co-led by Flutterwave, an African payments company, and Techstars. Asymmetry Ventures’ Daniel Gould and PactVC were among those who took part.
Dapio, previously Paymob and not to be confused with the Egyptian payments processor which shared the same name, enables companies to take cashless payments in-store by converting any Android smartphone back into a direct card reading terminal.
Due to how costly and clumsy point-of-sale systems may be, it’s difficult for microbusinesses and solo operations, particularly those operated by migrants, to invest in hardware and purchase them. This has an impact on how they accept money from customers.
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 has only made one public investment in Ivorian fintech CinetPay and was bent on making more investments to solidify its footprint on the continent, so an investment outside of Africa was not anticipated. Nonetheless, the fintech unicorn is focused on breaking into developed economies, and investing in businesses there, as it has done with Dapio, is part of a long-term strategy explained by CEO Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola in a February interview.
Du added that the essential element for Dapio is that it is allowing payment acceptance for micro and small businesses, which is what propels current economic changes, which is why Flutterwave sponsored his startup. As a result, Flutterwave wanted the company to be a part of its larger mission.
Techbuild’s Take
It’s fair to conclude that cashless transactions have changed the world’s financial perspective. Since demonetization, the use of mobile phones to make payments rather than traditional ways of payment has surged dramatically.
When most SMEs’ operations came to a halt due to demonetization, those who had switched to cashless transactions were able to limit their losses.
The convenience of making financial transactions is likely the most compelling reason to go digital. You won’t need to carry large amounts of cash, plastic cards, or even wait in lines for ATM withdrawals.
Service quality is your first priority as a small business owner. This is so that your customers can have a positive experience with you and return to do business with you again and again.
However, collecting customer payments can be a difficult and time-consuming task. Most of the time, this is due to the fact that the payment alternatives you’ve provided are handier for you than for your clients.
Thanks to companies like Dapio, which provide simple and better ways to make payments without requiring your customers to carry cash.
Cashless payment methods are also safer for everyone concerned; carrying a smartphone rather than stacks of cash is always easier and safer and while companies are searching for innovative ways to create better cashless platforms, investors are not sleeping.
The good news is that Flutterwave, an African behemoth, has joined this venture, allowing it to expand beyond Africa and into the international market.
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