Bulgarian fintech startup Payhawk banks €3 million to grow in German market from new Berlin sales office

London-based Payhawk, a paperless corporate card that streamlines expenses, has closed €3 million in seed funding. The round was led by Earlybird’s Digital East Fund with participation from Berlin-based TinyVC, and angel investors in the industry such as Mark Antipof (ex-Chief Commercial Officer at Visa Europe) and Keith Robinson (Chief Strategy Officer at Sage). The fintech startup combines corporate credit cards and expense management into one service, reducing the hassles and delays that come with employees spending personal money and requesting reimbursements. “Our payment solution addresses exactly this pain point and supports businesses in their transition to a new, paperless and digital age without being forced to switch banks," explains Hristo Borisov, CEO of Payhawk. Two years ago, the startup was founded in Sofia, Bulgaria by Boyko Karadzhov and Hristo Borisov. Now based in London, Payhawk recently opened an office in Berlin, intended to be the company’s new sales headquarters, and will use the seed funding to increase its presence in the German market. So far the Bulgarian-British startup serves customers in 14 European countries, fueled by a €500,000 pre-seed round led by Eleven last year.

Remarking on what makes Payhawk’s product different in a sea of fintech startups, co-founder of Earlybird Roland Manger said: “Neobanks paved the way for great customer experience in payments. AI and machine learning already outperform manual data entry of invoices and cloud-based expense apps have existed for more than a decade. Payhawk decided to combine the best of what exists today and integrate it into a next-generation platform.”