Payments provider Paddle has raised $200m (£162.2m) in a Series D funding round at a valuation of $1.4bn, making it the UK’s latest fintech unicorn.
The London-headquartered company will use the extra capital to continue the growth of the platform, which payment infrastructure for software as a service (SaaS) businesses.
Its services include payment routing, tax collection, compliance, invoicing, subscription management, renewals, reporting, and fraud protection.
“Unfortunately, many SaaS companies still find their growth hindered by the operational challenges that arise when scaling; from handling subscriptions management or tax compliance to localising payment options in every market,” said Christian Owens, CEO and co-founder, Paddle
According to Gartner the SaaS market is expected to be worth $692bn (£561bn) in 2025.
Paddle’s Series D round was led by KKR, with the addition of previous investors FTV Capital, 83North, Notion Capital, Kindred Capital. Debt financing came from Silicon Valley Bank.
Founded in 2012, Paddle is used by over 3,000 software companies and has a total investment to date of $293m (£237m).
Paddle has worked with SaaS companies such as Resume.io, MtionVFX and Tailwind Labs.
The investment follows on from its Series C round in November 2020, which raised £52m and was led by FTV Capital.
Recently Paddle has increased its headcount from 140 to 275 in its London and New York offices.
KKR made its investment through its growth equity fund, Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II.
“By simplifying the payments stack, Paddle enables faster, more sustainable growth for SaaS businesses. Christian and the team have done a phenomenal job building a category-defining business in this space, and we are excited to be supporting them as they embark on the next phase of growth,” said Patrick Devine, director, KKR.
Paddle follows in the footsteps of GoCardless in becoming a UK fintech unicorn and follows a record year for UK fintech investment.
