Belgium-based provider of payments technology to banks Clear2Pay has announced a capital increase of EUR6 million by its current investors: AGF, IRIS Capital, Big Bang Ventures, GIMV, Trust Capital and management.
Jurgen Ingels, co-founder and CFO of Clear2Pay states: "Our investors wholeheartedly underwrite the strategy we are currently executing and are obviously encouraged by the sales successes and implementation progress of the past year. The development of the Open Payment Framework and the solutions derived off that platform run to schedule and we are busy implementing this around the globe.
"The almost 100% increase in revenue over the past year and the encouraging outlook for 2009 have prompted us to increase our working capital through an internal investment round, which was subscribed by current investors."
Michel Akkermans, Chairman and CEO of Clear2Pay adds: "Despite the general economic slowdown, we see only limited impact of that to date in the payments transaction business. Moreover, banks view payments as core business now more than ever and continue to invest in programs to increase transparency and efficiency of their payments operations.
"The four major contracts we signed over the last couple of months, two of which (PBS and Santander) have been publicly announced to date, cover three continents ... With large contracts in the pipeline for 2009, we look forward to an exciting year in obviously challenging circumstances."
The company was founded in 2001, and since then has accessed EUR49.2 million in funding from a growing number of investors and management to drive its global expansion - organically and through acquisitions. It most recently raised EUR10 million in internal funding in January this year.