"I was not asking to pay in Bitcoin!" The CEO and co-founder of Plastiq, Eliot Buchanan, recalls with a laugh. "I went to pay part of my tuition at Harvard and they told me that they would not (and never would) accept credit cards, it was an inconvenience and it seemed strange, credit cards have existed for 50 years." He lit a light bulb in his desk. head. "Why can not I use a credit card to pay this important bill? So, I set out to solve my own problem. "
Whether you're trying to pay your rent or your registration on credit, or if you have a business and want to invest in a new opportunity or get a better rate by paying suppliers In front, Plastiq can help: For a flat rate of 2.5 percent, you pay Plastiq through your credit card and issue the bank transfer, check or corresponding deposit for up to $ 500,000, or even more, in your name to whom you must.
Now, with more than 1 million customers, growing VCs are taking notice, Kleiner Perkins has just led a $ 27 million C series for Plastiq with partner Ilya Fushman joining the board. One source says the increase is also due to DST Global doubling and tripling Plastiq's valuation in its Series B-1 2017 rounds of $ 11 million and $ 16 million, now with $ 73 million in total funds, it plans to add 100 people to your eq current team of 60, while building its products from small businesses and banking associations.
"As tens of thousands of business owners began using Plastiq actively for billions of dollars in payments, we realized that we had this incredible opportunity to serve as the center / platform in the that they (PYMES) could execute all their payments. "The very fabric of the United States economy, and certainly much of the world, is run by small business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs," Buchanan tells me. is "the main reason that planted this Kleiner financing and our renewed vision of accelerating how small businesses grow." [Helping people pay with credit cards] is simply the entry point to a much larger work in which we are fundamental to know how a small business works. "
For example, if a small business wants to increase the production of something it is selling, normally You will have to pay in advance for manufacturing, but wait months until things are shipped and sold to recover your investment That can put a lot of pressure on the operating capital of the company.With Plastiq, the business can pay with credit in advance so that you do not have to worry about running out of money in the meantime Plastiq also allows companies to accept payments by credit card, which can earn them the favor of their partners.
Plastiq co-founders (from the left): Eliot Buchanan and Dan Choi
Chain of specialized medical clinics Metro Vein pays vendors not to take credit with Plastiq instead. "I was able to invest in a new line of business that has allowed me more than double our revenues in the last 10 months, "said CEO Dmitri Ivanov. And thanks to tax reductions, commercial users of Plastiq can reduce their rate to 2 percent.
Buchanan states that Plastiq has no direct competitors that allow SMEs to pay all their invoices through credit. However, it does involve platform risks. "Like any payment business, we rely heavily on Visa, MasterCard and American Express. A challenge or risk factor is that you rely on very large companies that are very successful. You have to learn to work hand in hand with these partners instead of "interrupting" them. "He says that Plastiq's relationships with them are positive at this time, as it is generating new revenues for them and helping their clients spend in new areas."
also the risk of people making improper use of Plastiq to postpone the payment of their personal bills or invest in their business, but Plastiq's new board member, Fushman, calls the service "this elegant way for companies to take advantage of the credit they have been granted but have not been able to use before. "For many of those who are willing to pay, they just need some time and flexibility, Plastiq can help."