French fintech Aria has landed a €15M funding round to expand its deferred payment infrastructure across the platform economy and B2B marketplaces.
The financing was led by 13books Capital with participation from Adevinta Ventures, Ankaa Ventures, Otium Capital and angel investors including Laurent Ritter (Purple), Mark Ransford and former Stripe exec Guillaume Princen.
Founded in 2019, Aria is currently working with over 100 platforms to solve the payment gap between when suppliers need to get paid and when buyers want to pay for goods and services. Aria integrates directly into the platform’s systems enabling instant direct payments to suppliers across Europe and allowing buyers up to 90 days to pay for services and goods.
Over the last 12 months, on the back of growth in France and its UK launch, Aria has now processed over €0.5 billion in payments for over 30,000 businesses and freelancers with invoices ranging from €500 to €20,000. Aria is supported by a €150m debt facility from several investors including M&G Investments.
Clément Carrier, CEO and co-founder of Aria, comments: “While B2B payment volume is 5x the size of B2C retail payments, only 7% of B2B commerce is transacted online. Aria replaces the outdated method of B2B payments with an online experience that closely resembles B2C. With Aria’s suite of tools, companies can process any payment method, offer flexible net terms financing, and get paid instantly — all in one online platform. Buyers have the flexibility to pay like they would on a consumer website, transacting in a few clicks.”