London-based fintech Zilch raises $80 million in Series B round

London’s BNPL (buy now, pay later) platform Zilch has raised $80 million in a Series B round. To date, the company has raised a total of $120 million and has a valuation of over $500 million.

The round is backed by several investors including Gausee Ventures and M&F Fund. The capital will help fuel Zilch’s continued expansion in the UK as well as a market entry into the US. Additionally, the firm plans on adding 100 new hires, alongside the strategic acquisitions of Werner Kruger, former VP of data science at Klarna and as Chief Data Officer, and Amabel Polglase, former Head of Global Clients at Facebook, as Chief Marketing Officer.

“Zilch is far more than a BNPL company. We will very soon be launching in a number of new countries and continue the testing and rapid rollout of alternate ways for our customers to spend with Zilch,” comments Zilch founder and CEO Philip Belamant.

Zilch is the only fully FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) regulated player in the buy now, pay later space in the UK, a result of working with the regulating body over 12 months to secure a consumer credit authorisation.

Zilch’s service offers consumers the ability to pay wherever Mastercard is accepted and spreads the payment out over 6 weeks with zero interest and zero fees. The company also offers its customers a unique feature, tap to pay. Not exactly novel by “new” traditional standards, however, Zilch points out that no other player offers consumers the ability to add a card to their digital wallet of choice, as opposed to QR or bar codes as supplied by their competitors.

“We have built a digital platform that links our customer with every retailer in the world allowing us to learn what our customers want, build those features and ship them for a dime to every customer of ours in an instant,” adds Belamant.