PPRO Raises $50 Million in an Expansion Bid

Cross-border payment specialist PPRO Group raised $50 million in a funding round led by PayPal Holdings Inc., Citi Ventures, and HPE Growth Capital, the London-based company announced Monday. The funds will be used to expand internationally, including the United States, where it opened an Atlanta office earlier this year.

PPRO offers businesses the ability to accept more than 140 alternative payment types. San Jose, Calif.-based PayPal said a recent deal between it and PPRO enables merchants to offer the PayPal Checkout with Smart Payment Buttons payment option. “A merchant’s choice of payments partner is increasingly being driven by the ever-expanding range of locally relevant payment methods available,” said Arnold Goldberg, vice president of merchant product and technology at PayPal, in a press release.

Citing a 2017 Edgar, Dunn & Co. report, PPRO said credit cards are only used in 17.6% of worldwide online transactions.

“Adding support from PayPal and Citi Ventures alongside our existing investors will make it possible to bring the benefits of alternative-payment method acceptance to even more businesses around the world,” Simon Black, PPRO chief executive, said in the release. The investment is expected to close in the third quarter.

Just last week, PPRO announced YapStone, a payments provider for apartments, vacation rentals, and other markets, will offer multiple alternative payment methods via PPRO.