PromisePay’s a disruptive influence that has learned well

As some of the heat recedes from the bubbly global fintech sector, Melbourne-based payments disrupter PromisePay is among a select group of local start-ups with a rapidly deepening revenue stream, serious global prospects and an embarrassment of funding options.

Sometime this year, PromisePay will start taking bids for a second round of funding.

One of founder chief executive Simon Lee’s problems is that he can’t accommodate everyone who wants to clamber aboard the PromisePay bandwagon, which is why a $10 million cash-grab is likely to be upgraded to $30m-$40m.

That way, PromisePay can flaunt its balance sheet to customers generally concerned about trust and stability, and lock in adequate funding for three years of operations and expansion.

Lee is only too well aware that many start-ups make the mistake of failing to extend their funding horizons, so that planning for another funding round tends to start only months after the cheques arrived for the last one.

It’s one of many lessons Lee learned from a highly successful consultancy start-up that went horribly pear-shaped. But more on that later.

PromisePay is a payments platform for online marketplaces. Think ride-sharing service Uber, or accommodation site Airbnb.

Source: PromisePay’s a disruptive influence that has learned well