Recharge, a firm focused on the prepaid payments industry, has announced its successful acquisition of Startselect, a European digital gift and gaming cards company.
This move reportedly positions the company on course “to generate 750 million EUR in annual sales in 2024.”
Since 2010 Recharge has been “on an aggressive growth path with their online ‘supermarket’ for digital gift cards and mobile top-ups.”
They were one of the first companies “to offer easy online purchase of digital prepaid cards through their webshops and apps.”
Recharge early on recognized “that many consumers sought more convenience through buying gift cards online. Since conception,” Recharge has processed “over 100 million transactions for satisfied customers globally.”
This is Recharge’s first achievement “in their M&A strategy to consolidate the digital prepaid payments market and further build out their global leadership position.”
The recent macroeconomic headwinds “have unlocked momentum for M&A opportunities and the company has the ambition to close another 2-3 acquisitions in the next 12 months.”
The acquired company, Startselect, has “a long standing track record of providing a high quality digital marketplace for gamers with a broad assortment of gaming products.”
The acquisition of Startselect “strengthens Recharge’s diversified prepaid product offerings, now adding Startselect’s stronghold in the gaming cards market.”
Günther Vogelpoel, CEO of Recharge, 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.”
Max Gudden, Founder of Startselect, shared:
“I feel proud of the whole team at Startselect that made this milestone possible. Being a part of Recharge starts a new chapter for us, where we can reach new heights.”
This acquisition comes after the company’s recent expansion “into the U.S. and Canada with Blackhawk.”
Startselect will extend Recharge’s consumer label offering, “which includes global shop Recharge.com and country specific labels Beltegoed.nl, Recharge.fr, Guthaben.de, Herladen.com, and Mobiletopup.co.uk.”