Kiwi Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) provider, Laybuy, has pulled in $35 million in its most recent capital raising drive, putting it firmly on track to pursue its expansion objectives in the UK.
The funding boost would support further investment in Laybuy’s technology, marketing and people, managing director Gary Rohloff said, ultimately accelerating Laybuy’s push into the UK market.
“The opportunity in the UK market should not be underestimated”, Rohloff said.
“The UK has a retail market approximately 2.2 times larger than the Australian market in terms of overall spending.
“It is also a market where a higher proportion of retail spending is online, and where BNPL is still in early stages of adoption.”
For Rohloff, while fairly familiar to Australians, the relative novelty of BNPL in the UK market presents a prime opportunity to expand Laybuy’s operations.
“Laybuy is already widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading BNPL providers”, Rohloff said, with consumers spending more than £151 million [$A275] through the service over the past year, up 504 per cent on the previous year.
Founded in NZ by father and son team Gary and Alex Rohloff in 2017, Laybuy has since expanded into Australia and now the UK, with ambitions to pursue the US and European markets.
Two years on from its soft launch in the UK in late 2018, the company is on track to hit a gross merchandise value (GMV) of NZ$1 million.
The company estimates revenue to grow between 90 and 100 per cent by EoFY 2022.
Fellow Australiasian BNPL service, Afterpay, which also recently listed on the US stock exchange, experienced growth last year of 293 per cent, achieving a $34.29 billion capitalisation.
With around a quarter of a million active users, Laybuy has some way to go to catch up with Afterpay’s 13 million-strong global user base.
New partners
Laybuy also confirmed it has locked in strategic partnerships with Rakuten, AWIN and Sovrn, providing its users access to more than 5,000 merchants in the UK.
This includes household brands ASOS, Nike, Marks & Spencer, Amazon and eBay.
Through these partnerships, Laybuy customers will be able to use its ‘Tap to Pay’ digital card with these merchants, allowing them to pay with Laybuy both online and in-store without further merchant integration or direct relationship required.
Much like its fellow BNPL offerings, Laybuy’s service allows customers to pay off a purchase over six weekly transactions, interest-free.
