The founders want to have “cracked the code” and digitize the car trade with their payment platform. With Paypal as a new investor, the Cologne-based company now wants to penetrate European markets.
They want to bring Bezahl.de into new markets: CFO Markus Wolf (from left) and the founders Lasse Diener and Ulrich Schmidt. NX Technologies
“We will not remain a small German company”: Lasse Diener, founder of the Cologne-based fintech Bezahl.de, made this announcement more than a year ago in an interview with Gründerszene. Back then, it was in a random conference room at Weworks on Friesenplatz in the Belgian Quarter in Cologne. Then, three months later, Diener and his co-founder Ulrich Schmidt raised around eleven million from New York venture capitalist Motive Partners for their startup NX Technologies, which is behind their payment platform. A lot has happened since then: the Cologne-based company and their team, which has now grown to 130 employees, have moved into their first office less than 150 meters away. And the signs point to growth in other ways too.
Yesterday it was announced that the founders had raised around 22 million euros in their Series B financing. Paypal Ventures, the investment arm of the US payment service of the same name, took part as lead investor – a pretty big fish in the financial industry. And it is precisely this name that Diener and Schmidt now want to use for their Bezahl.de platform, which processes payment transactions in the car trade digitally. So that they don’t remain “a small German company”. “In the end, Paypal is the most successful fintech story known,” says Lasse Diener in an interview with Gründerszene.
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At the moment, the people of Cologne are working primarily with car dealers. “It is no secret that car manufacturers are increasingly moving into direct sales. “We want to manage payment processing here too – of course it helps to get such a global player on board,” says the founder. Another point was the timing. Paypal “did well” with the funding process. In addition to the US giant, the round was joined by Spanish fund Seaya Ventures, European VC Walter Ventures, which is part of Canadian asset manager Walter Group, and existing investor Motive Ventures. NX Technologies has already raised a total of 38 million euros in risk capital.
Founders want to break into the European auto industry with a new name
Diener and Schmidt want to enter European markets this year. The focus would be on SEPA countries, i.e. the nations with the euro as a recognized currency. The founders want to focus on their customers. They have already gained dealers in Italy, Spain and France. In total, the startup has around 130 customers with more than 1,100 locations. According to the founder, “almost all dealer associations” – whether Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Renault, Toyota, Kia or Ford – would recommend their tool for processing payments.
The name “Bezahl.de” is set to take on a more international flavor in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, Diener believes: “It was right to use Bezahl.de as a name at the beginning because a German brand works well in Germany. We are currently preparing something for European expansion.”
Fintech takes care of payment transactions between car dealers and customers
Buying and paying for a car is as easy as buying a new handbag – this is how the core of the idea behind Bezahl.de can be summarized. Instead of retailers having to create invoices manually and send them to customers after the sale, NX Technologies’ platform handles the entire process digitally – similar to that of an online shop. This saves time and money: According to the founders, car dealers had previously “burned two thirds of their margin in the back office”.
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Today it works like this: Customers receive a payment request by email and are taken to a check-out process via a link. There you choose your payment method: whether by virtual credit card, Paypal or in installments. To achieve this, the Cologne startup works with other banks such as Unicredit and financial service providers such as Tink and Adyen. For buyers who prefer to pay on site when the car is handed over, NX Technologies also provides self-service terminals “like at Ikea” in car dealerships. Alternatively, payment can also be made using a mobile phone. To use the platform, merchants pay a monthly fee per location. If a certain payment volume is exceeded, additional fees apply per transaction.
A colorful system landscape at car dealers made it difficult to establish a uniform payment process
Cars have long been sold in dealers’ online shops or on online platforms such as Auto1, just like sofas and washing machines elsewhere. Nevertheless, payment often still takes place in the same way upon handover – or customers transfer money in advance. Lasse Diener has an explanation for this: “The car trade is characterized by a fragmented system landscape.” While in the classic e-commerce business – with the largest providers Salesforce and Shopify – there are relatively few systems overall, things are different in the car trade. The founder said: “In the car trade, although it is significantly larger in terms of external sales than e-commerce, VW uses different invoicing systems than, for example, a BMW dealer, and within this group the individual dealers also use other systems.” That’s why they were loud Few payment providers have ventured into the market so far.
“We were the first crazy people who said we would crack the code and create a new standard,” says Diener. That was in 2018. The fact that in addition to large amounts, such as the sale of a limousine for 30,000, small sums, such as repairs in the workshop, are also processed in the car trade, this makes it even more difficult to establish uniform payment solutions. Especially since the sales process is shifting more from the physical car dealership to the digital space. “It’s a colorful bouquet of flowers,” says Diener. Automating the process via Bezahl.de and making it compatible with various ERP systems was a “pain,” explained the founder in an earlier conversation with Gründerszene.
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In addition to new markets, Diener and Schmidt also want to further develop their product. In addition to immediate payment, the Cologne-based company plans to soon offer the possibility of taking out digital financing in the form of vehicle loans or taking out vehicle insurance during the check-out process. According to Diener, customers are already actively accepting installment payments in the workshop area. This would also allow retailers to sell one more service without having to manage a lot of paperwork.
Bezahl.de not profitable: “Conscious decision”
The Cologne fintech is not yet profitable. Investors are using profitability as an increasingly important criterion in their investment decisions. Diener says: “We consciously decided not to be profitable.” So far, their focus on further growth has not harmed the Cologne-based company – unlike many other fintechs that were punished by investors in the wake of the capital crisis. Most recently, the Berlin financial startup Elinvar and the luxury credit card provider Xpay were hit. Diener claims to have “built a significant business” and that investors believe in her growing business. The fact that the car trade is growing should also play into the hands of Cologne. Loud Federal Motor Transport Authority A total of 2.84 million new cars were registered in 2023. CEO Diener generally doesn’t talk about sales. He only reveals this much: They would manage “significantly more” than 600 million euros in platform volume per month.
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Your payment tool should not be reserved exclusively for the automotive industry. NX Technologies has not yet “proactively” approached other industries. In the long term, however, the founders want to focus on a broad customer portfolio. They are already working with other corporate customers, including the Cologne-based photovoltaic provider Wegatech. Companies from the furniture industry and healthcare, for example beauty clinics, which also charge large sums of money, are also potential customers for Bezahl.de.