Japan's SBI Investment has led a $28 million Series A round in Berlin-based corporate card platform, Pliant.
Founded in 2020, Pliant’s credit card platform enables companies to issue physical, virtual and one-time credit cards that integrate into business back-end enterprise resource planning software.
The company also services other fintech firms with an embedded card platform that they can offer to thier clients. Recent signings include Candis, an invoice management software company, and Circula, a travel expense and employee benefits software provider.
SBI is joined by existing investors from Plaint's previous pre-seed and seed rounds, including Carsten Maschmeyer’s Alstin Capital, finleap founder Ramin Niroumand through Motive Ventures, and neosfer, the early-stage fund of Commerzbank. In total Pliant has raised $48 million..
The investment is a bright spot in a challenging time for startups, with the EY Startup Barometer 2022 reporting a 43% decline in venture capital investment in German startups compared to the previous year. Pliant’s Series A round is the largest fintech funding in Germany thus far in 2023.
Ramin Niroumand, partner at Motive Partners, comments: “The strong growth throughout the year, combined with the high level of modularity of the product suite, are reasons that Pliant was able to raise such a significant series A round, despite the current market environment.”
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