Billink raises €29.5m to expand BNPL offering to Germany

By Gloria Methri

Billink, the Netherlands-based Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution, has raised €29.5 million from the German Varengold Bank. The payment provider will use the funding to expand its offering to the largest Benelux web shops, enter the German market, and make buying online fairer, for both consumers and web shops.

Billink is a payment solution where payment is only made after shoppers receive purchases. Since its first BNPL transaction in 2012, Billink has amassed 3 million users and over 3,000 web shops now offer its payment service. The scale-up has also gained ground in the business market, where 20% companies of companies registered in the Dutch Chamber of Commerce have made at least one payment using the solution.

“We differentiate ourselves by being a ‘local hero’,” said Frank Waagmeester, CEO of Billink. “We have been active in the payment market in the Benelux for over a decade and understand the challenges of our webshop owners. We see this reflected in, among other things, a high customer retention and satisfaction score and a 4.7 Trustpilot rating, the highest in the market. With this great foundation, we are ready to take the next step.”

Of the €29.5 million raised from Germany-based Varengold Bank, €4.5 million is directly committed. The amount will enable Billink to start serving the Netherlands’ top 50 online shops and free up working capital to accelerate its expansion into the German market.

“Offline, a consumer is used to paying only after receiving a service or product. Online, you pay in advance, just assuming that everything goes well, and your purchase is to your liking. We think that’s unfair,” Waagmeester explained. “We are now working on Billink Check-out 2.0, which makes the customer experience even more personal and helps web shop owners further optimize conversion. For this, we are not only talking to the largest webshops in the Benelux about their challenges and needs, but we are also developing our own AI (Artificial Intelligence) application.”