whenthen Secures $6M Funding for No-Code Payments Platform

The Competitive Landscape of Payment Startups

Despite the established success of companies like Stripe, the payments sector continues to attract numerous startups. The market is currently quite fragmented, with a new entrant appearing frequently. This growth is largely fueled by the rapid expansion of e-commerce, accelerated by recent global events.

Introducing WhenThen: A No-Code Payment Operations Platform

WhenThen has developed a platform designed to simplify payment operations for businesses of all types. They assert that their no-code solution streamlines the entire payment process, from initiation to management.

The platform is built to autonomously orchestrate, monitor, and enhance all aspects of customer payments and related operations.

The Rise of Open Banking and Embedded Finance

A key opportunity for WhenThen stems from the increasing desire of service providers to integrate open banking capabilities. This allows them to offer their own payment solutions and broader financial services.

Seed Funding and Team Background

Founded just six months ago, WhenThen has successfully secured $6 million in funding. This investment round was led by European venture capital firms Stride and Cavalry.

The company’s founders – Kirk Donohoe, Eamon Doyle, and Dave Brown – bring extensive experience, having previously held positions at Mastercard.

Addressing Complex Payment Flows

CEO Kirk Donohoe, speaking from the company’s Dublin headquarters, explained the core problem they are solving. He noted the shift of traditional businesses towards e-commerce and the increasing complexity of business models for online merchants.

Many merchants now operate across trade supply, marketplaces, and subscription services. Currently, there isn’t a single platform that simplifies the creation and management of diverse payment flows to support these varied business models.

Rapid Deployment of Advanced Payment Automation

WhenThen aims to enable e-commerce platforms to build sophisticated payment flows and automation in a matter of minutes, rather than months. Integrating various payment methods and gateways introduces significant complexity.

Managing the movement of funds from collection to payout requires expertise, a challenge the founders experienced firsthand while building previous businesses.

From Pain Point to Solution

The founding team previously faced the challenge of constructing complex payment flows for large enterprises, including airlines and hotels. They recognized the repetitive nature of this work and sought a more efficient solution.

This realization led to the development of WhenThen, designed to empower businesses to build these flows quickly and easily.

Industry Validation and Platform Capabilities

Claude Ritter, managing partner at Cavalry, highlighted the evolution of payment orchestration platforms. While existing solutions primarily focus on maximizing payment acceptance through optimized routing, WhenThen offers a comprehensive, end-to-end platform.

This allows businesses to exert control over every stage of the payment process, from initial intent to final payout.

Supported Payment Providers and Methods

WhenThen integrates with a wide array of popular payment providers, including Stripe, Braintree, Adyen, Authorize.net, and Checkout.com. It also supports alternative and locally preferred payment methods like Klarna, Affirm, PayPal, and BitPay.

The Importance of a Dedicated Payment Ops Platform

Fred Destin, founder of Stride.VC, emphasized the growing importance of selecting the right payment operations platform, particularly for businesses with global ambitions and diverse business models.

He cautioned against tightly coupling an e-commerce experience to a single payment processor, as it can be difficult to change course later. A dedicated payment flow platform, such as WhenThen, provides the necessary flexibility.