Recharge acquires startselect to strengthen digital voucher services

Amsterdam-based Recharge acquires Startselect, expanding its digital vouchers and prepaid card solutions. The move strengthens Recharge's consumer offer and supports its growth in the US and Canada.
Recharge acquires startselect to strengthen digital voucher services

Recharge, an Amsterdam-based digital vouchers and prepaid card solutions service has acquired Startselect, a Dutch digital gift and gaming cards company. The acquisition serves to bolster Recharge’s consumer-facing offer and builds upon the company’s more recent expansion into the US and Canadian markets. Terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

Gunther Vogelpoel - Recharge CEO. Photo: Uncredited.
Günther Vogelpoel - Photo: Uncredited.

Estimated to be worth $3+ trillion today, and rising to $5 trillion by 2025, the branded payments market has seen a boom in recent years, putting Recharge in a commanding position. While still vastly serviced by brick and mortar sales points, if the pandemic taught us nothing else, the ‘physical world’ rulebook has been tossed out the window, and is rapidly being replaced by the ‘virtual world’.

Offering a digital alternative, Recharge offers vouchers from brands including Apple, Google, Spotify, Xbox, PlayStation, and Netflix, to name a few. The company reports serving over 3 million customers, with sales of over half a billion, and growing 50 percent year-over-year.

In late 2021, when the company raised $35 million in a SmartFin-led Series B round, Recharge stated that it expected to reach over $1 billion in sales within the next two years. 

As per the acquisition, that figure has now been reduced to €750 million in ARR.

On the acquisition the company's ambition to close another two to three acquisitions in the next 12 months, Recharge CEO Günther Vogelpoel commented:

“Consolidation has been a theme in fintech in the recent period and I have no doubt in the value of this combination for our company. I’m also excited to welcome the Startselect team to the Recharge family. Combining our strengths and capabilities leads to a powerful competitive position in the industry. Together, with our larger scale, we can offer an even better service to prepaid users worldwide.”

Lead image provided by Recharge.com

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