UK fintech Phos raises €1.3m
Phos, a UK-based point of sale (PoS) software firm has raised €1.3 million in funding, as reported on TechCrunch.
The round was led by New Vision 3, an early-stage VC based in Bulgaria with participation from a number of unnamed angel investors.
The round was led by New Vision 3, an early-stage VC based in Bulgaria.
It brings the total raised by Phos to date to €2.5 million and will be used to grow the development team. This will see new features introduced, such as ‘PIN on Phone,’ a Software Development Kit (SDK), and a new integrated loyalty system.
The software enables merchants to accept payments directly on their phones without the need for additional hardware.
Founded in 2018, Phos has developed software that turns any NFC-equipped Android device into a payments terminal, negating the need for additional hardware and reducing total cost of ownership. The start-up says its solution is quick to deploy, and is “uniquely” phone and bank agnostic i.e. any bank can act as the acquirer.
“Millions of traders and merchants do not accept card payments because they find the current hardware inconvenient or expensive,” Phos co-founder Ivo Gueorguiev tells TechCrunch . “Most of the merchants who accept card payments find the cost of ownership of the hardware high, [while the] current POS hardware offers no additional value, with the exception of very expensive smart terminals like Clover”.
To remedy this, Gueorguiev says Phos’ technology accepts contactless card payments directly on Android phones and other Android devices without the need for additional hardware, as well as helping merchants make better use of data.
Phos is focused on a B2B model, seeing the fintech work with partners to distribute the product, such as banks, acquirers, PSPs/ISOs, large direct merchants, and platform players.
“The final user of the product will be mostly merchants at the long tail of the business, who are notoriously difficult to reach in a cost-effective way,” adds Gueorguiev.
Konstantin Petrov, Partner at NV3 adds: “The all-important prerequisites for success are there: a strong and visionary team with years of experience in the field, a huge under-served market of small merchants who do not accept payments other than cash and an innovative technology providing first-mover advantage. In addition, fintech is considered a strategic vertical in the investment strategy of NV3 Fund, so Phos is clearly a perfect add to our portfolio.”
Related: App-based payment solutions to delight merchants and their customers
