Estonian fintech Paywerk was acquired by Swedish banking group Swedbank
Tallinn-based fintech Paywerk has been acquired by Swedish banking group Swedbank, which will integrate Paywerk's technology into its infrastructure. Details of the deal have not been disclosed. After the deal is complete, the startup's executives (Jan Andresoo, Priit Poldoja, Raino Parona, and Marko Varika) will no longer work at Paywerk's management and supervisory boards.
The deal marks an exit for Estonian Inbank Ventures, a subsidiary structure of Inbank AS, which sold its stake to Swedbank. Also, it is an exit for former Estonian government CIO Taavi Kotka, a business angel from Estonia Sergei Anikin, and founder of Estonian Superangel VC Rain Rannu.
Founded in 2021 by Jan Andresoo, Priit Poldoja, Erkki Saarniit, Jaak Erm, and Rain Pikand. Paywerk has developed a platform that connects European online stores with multiple payment solutions to make transactions faster and more secure for customers. Paywerk allows shoppers to pay for their purchases immediately, after 30 days, or by splitting the payment into three, six, or 12 parts. This service is called BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later). For merchants, if the shopper pays after 30 days or splits the payment into several parts, Paywerk transfers the full payment to the online store after it has fulfilled the order.
Based in Tallinn and founded in 2010 by Jan Andresoo and Priit Poldoja, Inbank is a publicly traded fintech company with an EU banking license that connects merchants, consumers, and financial institutions on its integrated financial platform. Inbank works with more than 6,100 merchants and has concluded more than 850K contracts with buyers. In 2020, Inbank launched several new products, including the Pay Later solution Invy. In 2021, it attracted great interest from merchants in Lithuania and Estonia, and in April 2021, the founders of Inbank decided to launch a separate fintech company Paywerk, based on the Pay Later solution. Later in 2021, Inbank Ventures acquired a 30% stake in the fintech.
