London-based B2B payments fintech, Kriya has secured a new £50 million debt facility from a long-standing debt partner, Viola Credit. The Israeli fintech and alternative credit asset manager Viola Credit closed a $700 million fund in 2022, provides asset-based lending capital to emerging and established global fintech, proptech, and insurtech companies.
Funding Boost to Power £1B Payments
The latest funding facility will allow Kriya to power over £1 billion of B2B Payments over the next 24 months. With this facility, Kriya intends to double down on its PayNow and PayLater embedded credit and payments offering for B2B retailers and marketplaces. The new funding will also allow Kriya to power online checkouts and offline orders, offering features like Pay in 30 or 60 days, or split payments over several months.
The facility will also allow the British fintech to support exporters who do business in 45 supported markets in multiple different currencies, including: GBP, USD and EUR.
Anil Stocker, CEO at Kriya, commented: “We’re seeing big changes in how forward-looking merchants think about their B2B sales journeys from marketing to and onboarding new types of buyers through new channels, to smoothing the checkout process by offering different payment options and PayLater features that help their buyer’s cashflow.
Founded in 2011 by Anil Stocker, Kriya has been a key player in the business payment and credit sector for more than 12 years. Over this period, the company has processed billions in payment volumes and forged strategic partnerships with prominent institutions, including Barclays UK and the British Business Bank. Currently, Kriya operates in the UK, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, and Belgium. Its contributions to the business landscape include facilitating the collection of over £27 billion in B2B payments and advancing more than £3.5 billion in credit to both suppliers and buyers.
Ido Vigdor, General Partner at Viola Credit, commented: “Over the last 12 years Kriya has successfully supported businesses by delivering products like B2B invoice finance, business loans and credit lines. This new evolution of offering embedded B2B Payments to merchants allows them to reach even more small businesses by removing fiction in the purchasing process. We’re happy to continue and deepen our relationship with Kriya with this additional financing capacity as they scale their B2B embedded financing product.”
Competition
With the development of technology that facilitates secure and dependable commercial transactions, B2B payment has grown exponentially. Instead of relying on the conventional technique of sending and receiving payments, business owners are embracing technology-based B2B payment platforms. Some of the major players in the segment include GoCardless, Payrails, Currencycloud, iwoca and more, which got fancy funding recently. With the widespread adoption of embedded finance, Kriya aims to provide frictionless access to B2B payments and credit and has got backing by array of equity investors including Northzone, Barclays Bank and Mouro Capital (owned by Santander Bank) for that.
Talking about what distinguishes Kriya from others, Stocker tells TFN, “We have way more operational and credit experience than any of the startups in the European market. We’ve also got a track record of working with large enterprises such as Barclays, the British Business Bank, and Halfords while many of the startups in Europe are just getting started.”
Meet Anil Stocker, the Diverse founder of the UK
Anil Stocker, the founder of Kriya has a wealth of experience from the financial services sector, having navigated through the challenges of the financial crash after completing his university education. Witnessing the struggles of small businesses let down by large banks inspired him to launch MarketFinance, aiming to address the accessibility issues surrounding trade credit for these enterprises. As the company evolved, especially during the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic, a strategic shift led to the rebranding of MarketFinance to Kriya. The transformation involved embedding technology directly into large merchants, reflecting the company’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancements.
Anil’s personal background is a blend of Swiss and Indian heritage; born in Switzerland, he later moved to the UK during his teenage years for further studies. Emphasising diversity as a core value at Kriya, he claims to champion inclusion, with three out of seven members on the functional leadership team being women, showcasing a commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture.
