Alma provides merchants with flexible payment options including two-, three- or four-installment plans, longer 10- and 12-month plans, and 15- or 30-day deferred payments. The startup serves about 6,000 merchants and supports both online and in-store payments, with in-store representing 30% of volume. Alma processes more than €1 billion annually on its current run rate. It charges merchants payment-processing fees rather than late-payment fees, and some merchants pass those fees to customers. The company has launched a consumer mobile app to manage payments and plans to enable virtual cards in the first half of 2022. Alma has expanded beyond France into Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium and plans further expansion to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal, Ireland and Austria. Alma is a French fintech that provides installment and deferred-payment solutions for merchants and consumers, including a Pay Later option that lets shoppers pay two weeks to a month after purchase. The company pays merchants upfront and in full. This year Alma plans to design new installment products, establish partnerships with B2B marketplaces, and expand in France and abroad. It intends to triple its workforce and the number of merchants using its services. The company aims to process more than €1 billion in annual payments within two years. Alma was founded in 2017 by Louis Chatriot and Guillaume Desloges. Current outstanding debt is approximately €21 million, financed about 70% by institutional investors and 30% by high-net-worth individuals. Alma provides a buy-now-pay-later checkout option that lets customers split purchases into three or four installments while merchants are paid instantly. The company handles risk and cash advances in-house using verifications, filters and algorithms, with additional checks (including API access to bank statements) for higher-risk profiles. Fees are typically 3.8% for three installments and 4.2% for four, and merchants can choose to absorb or share those processing fees with customers. Alma is compatible with major e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento and Prestashop, and can be offered in retail stores. The startup already serves over 1,000 merchants and processes tens of millions of euros of transactions per year, with customers including Bobbies, Asphalte, Cowboy, Weebot, The Cool Republic and The Socialite Family. With new funding, Alma plans to attract more merchants, launch two new payment options (a pay-later product and a traditional pay-now option) and integrate its payment widget directly into e-commerce sites rather than redirecting to its checkout.

Total raised

$333M

Funding rounds

5

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Feb 2022