Deferit in multi-million dollar raise to accelerate growth
Deferit, a payment platform exclusively focused on helping people pay their bills on time, today announced that it has raised AU$15M in an oversubscribed Series B funding round led by existing investor Carthona Capital and new investor Alceon Group.
Deferit has seen an increased demand for the service with 150% growth in the past 12 months. The platform, which doesn’t fund discretionary purchases but helps users manage household bills such as telecommunications, energy and car registrations, has already passed milestones of 250,000 users and helped Australians pay off over $100M in bills.
Deferit CEO Jonty Hirsowitz said the funds would be used to accelerate the company’s growth via marketing and partnerships, and to grow its world-class team with new hires.
“Our total focus is executing our vision to help more Australian’s pay more bills on time and we’re delighted with the support of Carthona Capital and our existing and new investors including Alceon Group.”
Carthona Capital Partner Dean Dorrell said: “The Deferit team led by Jonty Hirsowitz and Mat Blas have proven they can scale the business and manage risk and we believe they have the product and vision to make Deferit a lead player in the $211B Pay Later vertical of everyday bills.”
Deferit CPO Mat Blas said: “In the bill payment vertical we’re addressing a different consumer need and pain point. Consumers want and need flexibility around moving their payment dates and getting their budget on track and that’s what we’re allowing users to do: across all major billers; as any bill arrives; at the click of a button.”
Deferit is the only pure play in the AU$211bn Pay Later vertical of everyday bills. It has paid over 500,000 telco, energy and car registration bills with 85% of all bills being for top 20 billers including Telstra, Optus, AGL, Energy Australia, Foxtel.
The Bill Now Pay Later vertical is similar to the Buy Now Pay Later vertical in the deferred payment model and the shift of millennials to debit over credit. Buy Now Pay Later is a disruption of Lay By and Credit Cards at the POS - removing friction at the checkout for consumers and retailers. Bill Now Pay Later is a disruption of Bill Extensions and Credit Cards at the bill due date as it removes friction for both the consumer and the biller.
