This is a scale-up financing for a land-grab market, because Flatpay is pairing breakout growth with a simple pricing wedge aimed at Europe’s long-tail merchants.
Flatpay, the Denmark-based payments provider, has raised EUR 161.5 million in a newly announced funding round backed by AVP Growth, Smash Capital, Hedosophia, Seed Capital and Dawn Capital. The financing comes as Flatpay pushes deeper into European SMB payments, positioning itself against larger, horizontal players such as Stripe and PayPal.
Why this round matters
Flatpay is not raising on promise alone. The company has reported 400% year-over-year revenue growth, with ARR rising from USD 35 million to USD 140 million over the past 12 months. That pace, combined with aggressive customer acquisition, is the core reason investors keep leaning in.
Its customer base has expanded sharply, from 7,000 customers in April 2024 to 60,000, putting Flatpay among the more scaled European platforms targeting smaller merchants. The model is built around flat-rate pricing, an approach designed to resonate with SMBs that want predictable fees and less complexity from payments providers.
A with-trend signal in European fintech
The round reads as part of a wider pattern: capital is concentrating behind fintech platforms that can show (1) distribution into SMBs, and (2) clear unit economics. Payments remains one of the few fintech categories where scale and product breadth can translate into durable advantage, but only if execution keeps up with customer growth.
Flatpay has already moved quickly through the growth-stage funding ladder. Verified reporting shows it previously raised EUR 145-146 million in a growth or Series C round at around EUR 1.5 billion valuation, following a EUR 45 million Series B in 2024. It also reached unicorn status at a reported USD 1.7 billion valuation within roughly three and a half years. The new EUR 161.5 million round reinforces that investors see continued headroom in the SMB segment rather than saturation.
Strategy: win SMBs with simplicity, then expand
Flatpay’s strategic bet is straightforward: Europe’s SMB base is vast, fragmented and still underserved by pricing and support models optimised for larger merchants. The company’s flat-rate pricing is intended to reduce friction in sales and onboarding, accelerating adoption at scale.
Management is also setting ambitious targets. The CEO has stated an aim of EUR 400-500 million ARR by end-2026, implying a 4-5x increase from roughly EUR 100 million referenced in reporting. Separately, the company has communicated plans to pursue a tenfold increase in both revenue and headcount by 2029.
Execution risks to watch
Fast growth creates its own pressure points.
- Service and support strain: Moving from 7,000 to 60,000 customers in a short period can challenge onboarding quality, dispute handling and merchant support, all of which influence churn.
- Pricing durability: Flat-rate pricing can be a powerful acquisition tool, but it must hold up as the mix shifts across merchant sizes, transaction volumes and risk profiles.
- Competitive response: Stripe, PayPal and other PSPs can respond with targeted pricing or bundled offers. Flatpay’s defence will depend on retention, product depth and operational excellence, not only distribution.
What comes next
With fresh capital and a heavyweight investor group, Flatpay is signalling it intends to keep pressing its advantage in European SMB payments. The near-term question is not whether demand exists, but whether Flatpay can maintain service levels and margin discipline while scaling headcount and broadening product capabilities.
If it does, this round will look less like a milestone and more like fuel for the next phase of consolidation in European merchant payments.