Crezco raises $12m in Series A funding round

UK-based SME payments fintech Crezco has secured $12 million in Series A funding.

The funding round was led by European venture capital firm MMC Ventures and fintech-focused 13books Capital, as Crezco eyes further growth.

MMC is focused on early-stage “transformative” technology companies that use AI and data science across sectors including enterprise AI, fintech, data-driven health, and cloud and data infrastructure.

13books Capital partners with European B2B fintech firms, bringing together a collective of founder and industry networks to provide portfolio companies with a platform for scale and growth.

The fundraising comes hot on the heels of a recent partnership with cloud-based accounting platform Xero to enable a new on-platform bill payments feature.

Xero will integrate Crezco’s account-to-account payments API to become the first major small business cloud accounting software in the UK to offer on-platform bill payments using Open Banking.

The new feature will allow small businesses to securely manage, approve and pay their bills without leaving Xero’s platform.

Ralph Rogge, founder and chief executive officer of Crezco, said: “A2A payments allow Crezco’s partners to move the point of payment from the bank to their platform. This is not just a domestic transfer solution.

“We connect real-time payments everywhere and it’s one of the most obvious examples of embedded payments.”

“The agreement between Xero and Crezco is a great opportunity for Open Banking to address SME payments in the UK and, over time, internationally,” said Oliver Richards, partner at MMC.

“It’s a transformational moment for the company and we’re excited to be backing Ralph and the team at this critical point in their growth.”

Michael McFadgen, partner and co-founder at 13books Capital, added: “While there are many exciting opportunities in the arena, it was Crezco’s continued focus on the SME and their payment challenges, domestic and international, that led to our investment.”