The French start-up Alma is creating a new giant of "buy now, pay later" (BNPL extension) in Europe. The company has closed a round Serie C of 130 million dollars (115 million euros). He has also raised $109 million (€95 million) in debt financing.
Tencent, GR Capital and Roosh Ventures are investing for the first time. Some of the startup's existing investors are repeating investment, including Cathay Innovation, Eurazeo, Bpifrance's Large Venture Fund, Seaya Ventures and Picus Capital. In total, it has raised $211 million (€185 million) in traditional rounds of equity financing.
The company has partnered with 6.000 merchants to offer more flexibility for more expensive purchases. The main payment product is the option to pay in 2, 3 or 4 installments.
But the company also other different plans. For example, Alma offers 10 or 12 month plans. Those options are particularly popular with some specific purchases, like furniture or consumer electronics.
Finally, Alma It has a payment option that allows you to buy and pay 15 or 30 days later. This could be particularly useful for clothing and other products that you may like, but end up being returned.
En general, Alma processes more than one billion euros a year at its current execution rate. It does not charge late fees as the company believes that it is not aligned with the interests of consumers. Some companies, such as PayPal, reduced late payment fees in BNPL installments by charging the end customer.
Instead, Alma charges payment processing fees. Some merchants choose to pay those fees directly, hoping it will increase sales. Others share those fees with end customers. It depends on each of the shops.
Alma follow in the footsteps of Klarna and has launched a mobile app for consumers. For now, the app only allows you to manage payments. At some point during the first half of 2022, the company will allow the generation of virtual cards to pay in multiple installments in any business.
In addition to online payments, consumers can pay with Alma in retail stores. The payment option can be integrated into payment terminals, or merchants can generate a payment link and share it with customers. In-store payments represent 30% of payment volume.
The startup works with Alain Afflelou, Etam, Galeries Lafayette, Printemps and Ankorstore. The company recently expanded into other markets. It is already available in Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium. And Alma now plans to expand to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal, Ireland and Austria.
