The bill now, pay later business has raised AU$15M in oversubscribed Series B funding round led by existing investor Carthona Capital and new investor Alceon Group.
Deferit, a payment platform exclusively focused on helping people pay their bills on time announced that it 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 doesn’t fund discretionary purchases but helps users manage household bills such as telecommunications, energy and car registrations. It has already passed milestones of 250,000 users and helped Australians pay off over AU$100M in bills.
What will Deferit use this funding for?
Deferit CEO Jonty Hirsowitz said that the funds would accelerate growth via marketing and partnerships, and to grow its world-class team with new hires. “Our focus is executing our vision to help Australians pay 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 says “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 says “In the bill payment vertical we’re addressing a different consumer need and pain point. Consumers need flexibility around moving their payment dates and getting their budgets 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 disrupts Lay By and Credit Cards at the POS removing friction at checkout for clients and retailers. Bill Now Pay Later disrupts Bill Extensions and Credit Cards at the bill due date as it removes friction for both the consumer and the biller.
Some of the milestones achieved by Deferit include
The Bill Now Pay Later platform has achieved some important milestones in the economic, and technology sectors in the Australian economy.
- AU$10M in late fees avoided/ early payment incentives on AU$100M bills paid
- 160,000 individual Telstra and Optus bills paid to date
- 85% of Deferit users are 25-44 and 70% are female
- NPS of +88 and 4.9 stars across +6k user reviews
