Telefónica backs Raylo with £6.5 million to scale subscription payment platform

The refurbished goods market has been booming for a while now. The pandemic made us sit at home and log in those hours from indoors. This also led to an increase in the number of remote devices. And why buy them when we could subscribe and get them for much cheaper rentals.

The refurbished technology market is being driven by mobile phones and laptops. In one of the most significant investments in the domain, Parisian refurbished electronics marketplace Back Market raised €450 million in a Series E round in January this year.

Adding to the sheen, London-based subscription payment platform Raylo has raised £6.5 million in funding. The investment includes a strategic investment from Wayra UK, part of the global telecom group, Telefónica, with participation from existing investors Octopus Ventures and Macquarie. The funds will be used to accelerate the rollout of the Raylo Pay subscription payment service to retailers in the U.K. The company had raised an additional $11.5 million in funding last year.

The startup claims its retailers are paid upfront and in full (zero fees) for any purchases, whilst consumers pay only a fraction of the cost of the product during the subscription term.

When consumers are ready to upgrade, the old products are returned and enter Raylo’s circular process of refurbing and re-commerce for maximum lifespan and sustainability.

Raylo co-founder and CEO, Karl Gilbert, said: “Subscriptions are a fundamentally better way to sell any durable product with a regular upgrade cycle – retailers enjoy a significant conversion uplift, consumers pay a fraction of the cost each month, and we avoid the wastefulness that has been encouraged under other payment models.”

Bruno Moraes, MD of Wayra UK, added: “There is a clear shift in consumer behaviour and their preference for subscription-based payment models. There’s an appetite for more affordable options to purchase great technology and devices.”