Fife fintech launches £4m crowdfund campaign

After being founded less than two years ago, Kirkcaldy-based PaySend’s drive is aiming to raise £4.26 million for a 3.3 per cent stake in the company, which specialises in international transfers.

The company, which employs 100 technical staff in Moscow and 30 between its offices in London and John Smith Business Park in Kirkcaldy, initially created a world-first system of transferring funds internationally by knowing a recipient’s 16-digit card number.

This system was then developed further to transfer money overseas by knowing the recipient’s phone number.

The company boasts 750,000 registered users and operates in more than 70 countries.

PaySend also recently launched its global accounts product, a way of holding multiple currencies digitally, with an accompanying physical Visa card that spends in the required currency.

PaySend chief executive Ronald Millar said: “There has been tremendous growth in the global transfers business – we are up to 750,000 customers and adding 2,000 people a day.

“We are on a major expansion path. We’ve just launched the global account and we want to continue to grow the business and establish the operational team and launch more marketing.”

The PaySend is also looking to develop a business to business system for international currency transfers of larger sums.

Last year it raised $20 million in a series A funding round and the latest funding round has been backed by major Silicon Valley investor Plug and Play and fintech venture capitalists Digital Space Ventures, who together have invested around £4m.

Mr Millar added: “The business is a start-up in terms of where we are on our journey but this is a series B funding round for us and we are well beyond the very early stages of a start-up.

“We want funding to keep driving the momentum of the business.”