Swedish A2A payments startup Brite raises $60 million

During 2022, Brite more than doubled its transaction volume and revenue, and reached profitability. Today, its offering is available in 25 countries across Europe through connections with 3,800 banks, touching more than 350 million end consumers.

Over the past year, the boot-strapped startup has been extending its open-banking powered instant payments network into neighbouring countries Finland and Denmark and across the Baltics and says the new cash injection will be used to accelerate its geographic expansion and invest further in product development.

Notably, the capital will drive further development of the Brite Instant Payments Network (Brite IPN); a proprietary network that facilitates 24/7 instant processing 365 days a year, taking full receipt of funds on behalf of merchants and settling them in the currency of their choice.

The round was led by Dawn Capital, an early backer of other Swedish fintech category leaders, including iZettle and Tink. The funding round was joined by Headline, a global VC firm that has backed rapid growth fintechs around the world, including Pismo, the Brazilian payments infrastructure provider. These new investors join existing Brite backer Incore Invest, which has further strengthened its position.

Lena Hackelöer, founder & CEO, Brite Payments, says: “We see account-to-account payments gaining momentum across Europe, but merchants are still struggling to realise the full potential for their businesses. That’s why we’ve built a complete instant A2A payments and payouts offering that can be plugged into any checkout, while eliminating operational hassles such as settlement accounts, reconciliation or FX. 2022 was our breakthrough year, and with this funding round, we’re ready to accelerate our growth and bring Brite to more markets and checkouts across Europe.”

Dawn Capital is bullish about Brite’s prospects, dipping into a recent $700,000 fund that was raised specifically to back early-stage B2B startups in Europe.

Josh Bell, general partner, Dawn Capital, says: “We are on the cusp of open banking 2.0. The prospect of real-time account-to-account payments becoming mainstream across Europe is on the horizon, and Brite stands to be the category leader. We’ve been on the ground in this space from the start, with early investments in Swedish fintech leaders including iZettle and Tink, and we believe Brite is on an equally stellar path.”