Paidy, a Japan-based buy now pay later brand, announced on Wednesday it raised $120 million through its Series D funding round, which included participation from JS Capital Management LLC, Soros Capital Management LLC, Tybourne Capital Management Ltd, and Wellington Management. Paidy reported that since late 2020, it has additionally completed the loan facilities set-up by upsizing the warehouse facility with Goldman Sachs, newly establishing the secured loan facility with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and the other warehouse facility through the syndication led by Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
Founded in 2008, Paidy describes itself as Japan’s pioneer and leading buy now pay later service. It is on a mission to “spread” trust through society and to give people “room to dream.”
“Paidy offers instant, monthly-consolidated credit to consumers by removing hassles from payment and purchase experiences. Paidy uses proprietary models and machine learning to underwrite transactions in seconds and guarantee payments to merchants. Paidy increases revenue for merchants by reducing the number of incomplete transactions, increasing conversion rates, boosting average order values, and facilitating repeat purchases from consumers.”
Paidy also revealed that as of March 2021, the number of websites accepting its services has exceeded 700,000 in Japan and the number of consumer accounts exceeds 5 million.
“Aiming to make the service more convenient, Paidy also recently began offering “3-Pay,” a service that allows customers to split charges into three equal, interest-free, monthly installments, which has been very well received.”
Paidy further revealed that the investment round’s funds increase and additional debt financing from the financial institutions bring total capital raising since the company’s founding to $585 million (of which, equity is $337 million, one of the largest amounts of funding ever raised by a startup in Japan). Russell Cummer, Founder and Executive Chairman of Paidy, added:
“Having the support of a powerful lineup including our existing shareholder JS Capital and Soros Capital of the United States and Tybourne of Hong Kong, and Wellington Management, makes me feel very encouraged about the future growth potential of a born-in-Japan startup that offers new values to the world. We intend to continue expanding our horizons and raising our sights.”