The largest investment of all time in an innovative Italian startup: what is the story behind Scalapay, which in less than three years has passed the valuation of one billion
Italy has a new unicorn. Scalapay, the “Buy now pay later” startup, which last September had already raised $ 200 million in a round led by the American Tiger Global, announces today that it has raised $ 497 million in Series B investments, the largest investment ever in an Italian startup. The round is led by Tencent and Willoughby Capital, with the participation of Tiger Global, Gangwal, Moore Capital, Deimos and Fasanara Capital.
–
Thus Scalapay acquires a value that goes well beyond a billion and becomes the third unicorn (innovative companies that exceed the value of one billion dollars) italiano, after Yoox and Depopboth sold to foreign companies.
–
But how does it grow exponentially in just over two years? And how do they attract investors of the caliber of Tencent? “After a round with Tiger Capital, one of the most popular investors currently, who has decided to invest again even a few months after the previous round, we have attracted the attention of other big names like Tencent”, says the co-founder Simone Mancini. «Already less than a year after its birth, other companies had proposed an acquisition to us – he adds -. Tiger Capital has encouraged us to move forward and look for new capital ».
–
What does Scalapay, the new Italian unicorn do
With eight thousand partner brands, including Moschino, Alberta Ferretti, Msgm, Luisa Spagnoli, Decathlon, Intimissimi, Calzedonia and VeraLab, Scalapay is the Italian payment leader Buy now, pay later
, “Buy now, pay later”, which consists of a short-term “loan”, in three or four installments and without rates, to purchase items on e-commerce sites. The service is totally free for the end customer and is financed by a commission applied to retailers to which Scalapay pays the amount immediately.
–
The story of Mancini and Mitrevski
A Scalapay was founded in 2019 by Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski, to which Raffaele Terrone, Daniele Tessari and Mirco Mattevi joined in the initial stages. “Johnny and I – says Mancini – have been working together for seven years and behind us we have three experiences of failure, from which we have learned a lot”. Fail to learn. Rising from the ashes: the culture of failure is strongly rooted in the world of startups abroad, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries. And indeed the idea of Scalapay was born in Australia, where Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski had lived for years. Mancini, in fact, moved to Australia with his family when he was a child. Born in 1987, son of two lay missionaries originally from Empoli, fifth of seven children, he returned to Italy a few years ago to found Scalapay: “I have 6 brothers and sisters and I have always been the” black sheep “: so I have been able to fail many times because no one expected anything else from me, a real blessing! “
–
The Austrlia advantage
Being in Australia certainly also contributed from a strategic and investment point of view: “In the first round we had the right angel investors: the founders of an Australian company that dealt with ‘Buy now, pay later’, who taught us a lot . We were also born at the right time: the pandemic saw a boom in e-commerce on the part of retail, without knowing it we have chosen the perfect timing “.
–
The future: how they will use the money
How will the funds raised be used? The maxi investment will consolidate Scalapay’s presence in Italy: “Today we have 200 employees, of which half are in Milan – adds the co-founder -. The development team was in Sydney, but now we have also opened one in Italy; by September we will reach 200 people in Italy, many of which are developers, designers and product managers, but by the end of the year we will reach 400 employees in Milan“. Scalapay is also ready for one acquisitions policy, for strategic purposes to acquire technical know-how or expand into new European markets.
–
Living Above Your Possibilities?
Scalapay’s goal is to overcome the controversy that arose on the “Buy now pay later” which, especially overseas, is accused of being responsible for a possible new wave of American consumer debt: “Scalapay is not used to live beyond its means – he adds – but transforms one of the most tiring parts of the shopping experience into something less unpleasant, the payment, those few times you want to take a whim and go shopping ».
–
Services for banks and e-commerce
Scalapay does not want to replace banks or e-commerce sites, but to offer them and users a more convenient and faster payment service: “With the new Magic solution, which we are already experimenting with in Italy with a hundred e-commerce, we help European merchants to transform checkout, growing the customer network and offering repeat shopping experiences that generate significant increases in conversion ». The service takes away from the user the “long and boring” part of the payment experience: registration. Once done on a site that uses Scalapay, it is not necessary to repeat it in the others.
«Our competitors are all trying to create a super payment app, we do not want to disintermediate the merchant but to give them tools – concludes Mancini -. If we look to the future of e-commerce, most of the purchases will move from classic e-commerce platforms to social networks or entertainment platforms such as Netflix., where we spend 70% of our time. What is missing is the infrastructure that connects local payment and these platforms: we are studying it and will launch it soon ».
–
February 23, 2022 (change February 23, 2022 | 20:05)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED
–
—
/data/photo/2022/02/11/62060064c75e9.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Early Warning Potential Extreme Weather, Heavy Rain accompanied by Strong Winds and Lightning")
