Sprinque, a payments platform based in Amsterdam catering to both local and cross-border B2B transactions, revealed on Tuesday its successful acquisition of a €20M debt facility from Avellinia Capital.
Following a €6M Seed funding round led by Connect Ventures just five months ago, Sprinque, based in Amsterdam, has made a new announcement. The company plans to utilize the recently secured debt facility to bolster its support for B2B e-commerce merchants specializing in Pay-by-Invoice sales to businesses. Moreover, with the assistance of the debt facility, the Dutch firm will be able to finance an estimated annual transaction volume of approximately €200M.
About the Investor
Avellinia Capital is a private credit investment manager that specializes in offering customized and adaptable asset-based financing solutions to rapidly expanding specialty lenders and originators within the specialty finance industry.
In an interview with Silicon Canals, Mark Holleman, co-founder and CPO of Sprinque, discusses the experience of engaging with Avellinia Capital.
“Prior to connecting with Avellinia Capital, we had worked with various lenders. However, when we first interacted with the Avellinia Capital team, there was an immediate synergy between them and Sprinque,” shares Holleman.
“Both parties shared a firm belief in the immense potential of the B2B market. Avellinia Capital demonstrated a keen understanding that their collaboration with us needed to be characterized by flexibility and an open-minded approach. Moreover, they were genuinely impressed by the Sprinque team,” Holleman adds.
Adaptable B2B Payment Platform
Sprinque was established in February 2021 by its founders Manoj Tutika (CTO), Mark Holleman (CPO), and Juan Espinosa (CEO). The platform empowers B2B merchants and B2B marketplaces to offer extended payment terms to their customers, allowing them to pay 15-90 days later without incurring additional risk or operational burdens.
The inception of Sprinque stemmed from Holleman’s prior experience in developing Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solutions for Amazon’s European marketplaces. Recognizing the complexities and expenses involved in implementing such solutions across all of Europe, he identified a significant gap in catering to frictionless transactions, both online and offline, within the B2B segment.
What Sets Sprinque Apart from the Rest?
“Our primary goal from the beginning has been to create a pan-European platform with aspirations of expanding globally. We didn’t want to limit ourselves to being a local solution or player,” Holleman explains to Silicon Canals.
“The true opportunity lies in facilitating cross-border transactions, and we are committed to solving this problem in order to unlock the full potential of the borderless European market,” he emphasizes.
Sprinque currently serves merchants in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, the UK, France, and Spain, with buyers spanning across Europe and even beyond.
He highlights, “Another aspect that sets us apart is that our platform was purposefully designed to cater to the unique purchasing flows of B2B transactions, which typically differ significantly from B2C e-commerce. Through our platform and APIs, we have the capability to accommodate various purchasing flows, be it real-time decision-making during an online checkout, a restricted access environment, or a comprehensive quote-to-cash process.”
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Efficient and User-Friendly Buyer Purchasing Journey
Holleman acknowledges that the process of applying for Pay-by-Invoice services has often been inconvenient for businesses, particularly due to time sensitivity.
To address this issue, Sprinque streamlines the procedure by swiftly verifying businesses and making fraud and credit decisions within seconds.
“We leverage an extensive range of data sources, including traditional credit bureaus and alternative data sources, to enable real-time decision-making,” Holleman explains.
Furthermore, he emphasizes, “We never outright reject businesses. If a buyer fails to receive an automatic credit limit assignment for any reason, they are automatically placed in our manual review process. We thoroughly examine the business before making a final decision. As we continue to learn and enhance our risk engine, the number of businesses requiring manual review decreases.”
Sprinque also assumes all default risks associated with approved transactions.
Holleman affirms, “Sprinque takes full responsibility for fraud and credit defaults. This means merchants can ‘Sell & Forget’. Once we approve a buyer and an order, the merchant no longer needs to be concerned about when and how they will be paid.”
Establishing a Pan-European Financing Network
To facilitate their merchant financing services, the Amsterdam-based company has constructed a specialized framework known as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) structure, incorporating Collections Foundations.
Sprinque asserts that this framework serves as the initial building block for a comprehensive pan-European financing network that will soon extend its support to B2B merchants across all European countries.
“All merchant settlements and invoice payments from buyers are directed through the Collection Foundation (Stichting Sprinque),” explains Holleman.
“This approach enables us to seamlessly incorporate multiple Special Purpose Vehicles under Stichting Sprinque, without affecting the settlement process for merchants or the invoice payment procedure for buyers. It grants us the flexibility to easily integrate new SPVs within our structure to cater to new markets or lenders,” Holleman informs Silicon Canals.
Addressing Economic Pressures
The Pay-by-Invoice solution offered by the company aims to assist businesses in mitigating economic pressures by providing dynamic settlements.
“Merchants have the flexibility to determine the precise timing of their payment for an order. This empowers them to optimize their working capital requirements and incur financing costs only for the financing they actually need,” explains Holleman.
Through the debt facility, current and future B2B merchants selling on Pay-by-Invoice with net payment terms of 7, 15, 30, 45, 60, or 90 days, as well as alternative options for Pay-in-Instalments, gain access to enhanced liquidity.
“When utilizing a static settlement framework, merchants receive payment the same number of days after an order is placed or an invoice is issued, regardless of whether they require financing for that specific order/invoice. Additionally, merchants are obligated to pay for this service even if they do not require it,” highlights Holleman.
2023 Roadmap: Future Plans and Milestones
Maintaining a remarkable acceptance rate of over 90%, Sprinque remains committed to ensuring a seamless Pay-by-Invoice experience for merchants by handling the entire process end-to-end.
This comprehensive approach involves onboarding and verifying business buyers, establishing and managing credit limits for approved buyers, facilitating transaction settlements with merchants in their preferred currency, and collecting invoice payments from business buyers upon maturity.
“Our most ambitious upcoming endeavor is the expansion beyond Europe, enabling US merchants to sell to buyers in Europe. This exciting development is slated to occur in 2023,” concludes Holleman.
