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Image credit: Pollinate

Pollinate is a software business that focuses on reinventing merchant acquiring for banks around the world. The company is formed of experts and global industry leaders from the financial services, merchant acquiring, loyalty, and technology sectors.

Pollinate raises funding

In a recent development, the London-based company has raised $50M (approx €42M) in its Series C round of funding led by Insight Partners, the global venture capital and private equity firm.

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The round also saw participation from existing investors including NatWest Group, Mastercard, National Australia Bank (NAB), EFM Asset Management, and Motive Partners.

Insight Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high- growth technology and software scaleup companies. Founded in 1995, Insight Partners has invested in more than 400 companies worldwide and has raised through a series of funds more than $30B in capital commitments.

What services does Pollinate offer?

The Pollinate platform allows banks to offer a one-stop-shop for SMEs, from access to capital, the ability to take payment, digital loyalty schemes, marketing tools, and insights. This gives SMEs a single place to understand, manage, and grow their business.

With bank-grade privacy and security, the cloud-based platform powers merchant and consumer digital experiences including onboarding, portals, and loyalty programs, without costly and distracting platform migrations. This allows merchants to manage their businesses with digital tools and data integrations, grow their businesses by connecting with their consumers, and give back to their local communities.

As for the banks, the Pollinate platform helps them to understand and engage with their customers as well as build stronger relationships with their merchants and consumers alike.

The company was founded in 2017 by Al Lukies, Fiona Roach Canning, Jonathan Hughes, and Tim Joslyn.

Utlisation of funds

The raised capital will enable Pollinate to further expand its services and move into North America, where it is in advanced conversations with a number of banks.

In addition, the investment will also support the expansion of Pollinate’s white-label marketplace offering to meet the needs of banks’ small and medium-sized business customers.

Speaking on the development, Al Lukies, CEO & Founder of Pollinate, says, “SMEs are the lifeblood of economies globally. They are the job creators, the innovators, and the brave explorers that simply find a way to make things work. Access to capital, intuitive banking services, and a broad ecosystem of value-added solutions and partners are critical to the journey of a small business owner. It is our passion to work with leading banks and dynamic merchants around the world.”

He further adds, “This investment round, led by the outstanding team at Insight Partners and supported by our existing shareholders, validates our mission, and is a statement of confidence in the banks – that they can fight back against new entrants and win, all while supporting the vital work of SMEs.”

Helping SMEs go digital

According to a press release, the regeneration of SMEs may result in a high rise and burn rate. However, for banks, it is crucial to keep up with their expectations and offer swift and effective support as they re-build. Pollinate works in collaboration with the banks to help them with that agility.

The company works with leading banks around the world, including NatWest Group (powering Tyl by NatWest) and National Australia Bank, and provides them a cloud-based toolkit for SMEs. In 2019, Pollinate successfully enabled the Royal Bank of Scotland Group to re-enter merchant acquiring with NatWest Tyl.