Payments tech firm gears up for second round of funding

A payments technology company which helps children escaping domestic violence with every transaction is set for a £1.4m turnover in its first year.

Payaro, based in Burton, gained initial investment late last year. Due to exponential UK growth, with a month-on-month revenue increase of 40%, expansion plans have been brought forward. That means a second round of investment opportunity came earlier than anticipated.

The Staffordshire-based company backs the Buddy Bag Foundation, with a percentage of each sale completed through its sales systems, and has pledged an additional donation of £1,000 every year.

It is gearing up for a second round of investment following significant growth, and having welcomed new private equity is opening the doors to more backers to share and be a part of the on-going success.

Founded by brothers Lee and Daniel Dunne, both with a series of senior finance or payments roles behind them, Payaro has innovated widespread Community Social Responsibility in its sector.

It has become the only UK and European payments company to be fully accredited by the internationally recognised CSR standard.

Daniel said: “This is a huge shift for the sector – moving away from wealth creation and focusing on giving back to the community.

“Almost six months on from our launch we are privileged to have been able to continue to support the Buddy Bag Foundation. But on top of that, of course what matters are our sales figures as per our business plan.

“To have grown as we have and to be on course for such a significant turnover, after launching in the midst of a pandemic is a massive and humbling achievement. The very day we launched; we were told working from an office wasn’t allowed.

“But thanks to our brilliant, resilient and highly motivated, growing team, here we are, exceeding expectations, we could not be more grateful.

“We are inspired by helping others who need it most and we are all about giving back, which is why our mission is to help the most vulnerable in society.

“There seems to be a huge upswell in caring and concern across the UK at present, and the independent businesses which we spoke with were very often just looking for the right way to turn their concerns into actions, we have set the business up to facilitate this and leveraging strong meaningful relationships to deliver on our objectives.”

Lee added: “Whilst there are some examples of corporate social responsibility in the industry, the larger providers are generally focused on their ‘bottom line’ and the smaller ones are simply trying to survive. Where we differ is that the whole purpose of Payaro is to help the most vulnerable. This value is at the front of every decision we make.

“I am proud of how much our Payaro team has bought into this vision and helped us on this journey. We have also built a full rest and recuperation day into everyone’s monthly schedule.”

Founder of the Buddy Bag Foundation, Karen Williams OBE, said: “We are hugely thankful to Payaro. Not only have they assisted us financially through their donations, they have also volunteered to pack 180 bags and delivered these to children in emergency, refuge accommodation.

“They have also gone the extra mile in continually raising awareness of our work to partners and the wider public through marketing and social media initiatives. The Payaro team has played a hands-on role for us in helping children and we wish them continued success for the future.”