Fintech start-up Openpay begins $10m pre-IPO raising as it takes on Afterpay

Openpay, a new challenger to soaring ASX-listed fintech start-up Afterpay, has launched a pre-IPO capital raising, seeking $8-10 million ahead of a planned ASX listing next year.

The company is run by former BDO national head of retail Simon Scalzo and, like Afterpay, lets people buy and use goods and services now, but pay for them in instalments with no interest.

Afterpay is up more than 155 per cent since listing in May, and Openpay also plans to go public in mid-2017 to raise the funds for further growth.

Mr Scalzo said it had already attracted interest from a number of investors in its capital raising.

“The process to raise capital is pretty easy from here. We’ve had investors call us so far,” he said.

“In my mind the road to raising capital isn’t hard, it’s more about ensuring that we partner with someone that will add strategic value to the business.”

Unlike Afterpay, which has a purely retail focus at this stage, Openpay services a diverse range of industries – retail, medical, automotive and home improvement.

Despite only just officially launching, it has signed up a growing list of businesses, such as Spotlight, Ella+Friends and Robins Kitchen, and already has 40,000 users.

The start-up was formed from the amalgamation of a number of separate “buy now, pay later” companies, including JAM Payments, Evoke Autopay and a number of white-labelled businesses, which were all owned by the same syndicate of private investors.

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Source: Fintech start-up Openpay begins $10m pre-IPO raising as it takes on Afterpay | afr.com