Primer Raises $50M to Revolutionize Merchant Payment Flows

Primer Secures $50 Million Series B Funding to Expand Payment Stack Platform

Primer, a U.K.-based startup specializing in a drag-and-drop framework for constructing payment stacks, has experienced significant growth since its launch 20 months ago. The company is now announcing a $50 million Series B funding round, valuing it at $425 million, to further capitalize on market opportunities.

Investment Details

ICONIQ Growth, the growth equity division of a San Francisco investment firm with ties to prominent tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, spearheaded the investment. Existing investors, including Accel, Balderton Capital, Seedcamp, Speedinvest, and RTP Global, also participated in the round.

Expanding Payment Integration Capabilities

Currently, Primer operates in over 20 countries and offers merchants access to approximately 45 integrations for their payment processes.

These integrations encompass a wide range of services, including payment providers such as Stripe, Apple Pay, Adyen, and Braintree. Furthermore, the platform supports fraud screening via Riskified and sales tax calculations through TaxJar.

When a payment workflow is designed within Primer, the system generates a distinct code snippet that developers can utilize for seamless integration into their existing systems.

Future Development Plans

The newly acquired funding will be allocated towards expanding the integration library, strengthening relationships within the payments ecosystem, and developing new services tailored to merchant needs.

“We are building out a comprehensive suite over the next year to assist merchants with operational efficiency and the monitoring of their payment infrastructure,” stated Paul Anthony, co-founder and CEO of Primer.

The Paradox of E-commerce Payments

Simplicity vs. Fragmentation

A notable contradiction exists within the e-commerce landscape. Businesses invest heavily in creating streamlined user experiences to maximize customer engagement and sales.

However, the underlying payments infrastructure – a critical component of any e-commerce transaction – remains remarkably fragmented.

Preferred payment methods vary significantly by geographic location, as do the companies involved in the payment process and the associated services, like identity verification.

The Rise of Embedded Payments

This complexity has fueled the emergence of embedded payments companies. These firms consolidate various elements of the payments process, offering merchants a simplified integration experience through a few lines of code.

While payments companies are actively consolidating commerce technology providers – exemplified by Stripe’s recent acquisitions of sales tax and identity verification tools – Primer believes a more comprehensive solution is required.

Primer’s Origin and Customer Base

Anthony and co-founder Gabriel Le Roux identified these challenges while working at Braintree, even with the backing of PayPal, merchants still encountered significant complexities in managing their payment stacks.

Primer primarily serves mid-market customers, including Voi, Freddie’s Flowers, and Parkopedia. On average, these customers utilize between four and five services within their payment stack, a number that is steadily increasing.

The Value Proposition

The platform’s value lies not only in simplifying the creation of payment checkout flows – such as mapping out scenarios for approved or rejected transactions – but also in providing merchants with greater choice, flexibility, and the ability to test different payment services.

“Over the past two decades, the introduction of new payment solutions has accelerated dramatically, driven by global consumer demand for trends like mobile payments, digital wallets, one-click checkout, and buy now, pay later options,” noted Roy Luo, a partner at ICONIQ Growth.

“However, no single payment solution can fully accommodate all the changes and innovations merchants require. This forces immense technical complexity on merchants’ payment and engineering teams as they attempt to integrate multiple payment methods, gateways, and fraud detection systems.”