UK-based Zilch raises $30 million for its BNPL platform with a twist

London-based Zilch, a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) startup that doesn't require integration on the merchant side, has landed $30 million in a Series B funding round from a range of VCs including Gauss Ventures and the co-founder of Money Supermarket Simon Nixon (Seek Ventures). The news comes mere months after Zilch announced its first funding round of $10 million in early September.

Unlike traditional BNPL products, which get integrated on the merchant side and become essentially yet another payment method, Zilch connects to the user's bank account through open banking protocols. All the customer needs to do is to choose the store where they want to shop and activate a virtual credit card that'd only work for that merchant. This way, the product can be used in any store that accepts Mastercard.

Staying true to its name, Zilch offers customers to pay for purchases in four equal instalments spread from the checkout moment to six weeks afterwards with no interest and no hidden fees. Similarly to the rest of BNPL players out there, the company gets a small cut from the merchant for each purchase made with a Zilch card.

In a statement, Zilch said that it “has seen customer registration numbers quadruple over the last six months and transaction volume grow by more than 100 percent month-on-month.” It's currently at 160,000 users and employs 35 people in its London headquarters. The plan for 2021 is to grow the team to about 75 employees and potentially expand beyond the UK borders.