The Turkish fintech startup Sipay hit the Money20/20 media headlines as it secured its USD 15 million funding series A, underlining the fintech’s potential for growth. Not surprisingly, Sipay, which was founded in 2019, was identified by Deloitte as the fastest-growing fintech in Turkey due to its 10x year-on-year growth. Banking & Finance sat down with Nezih Sipahioğlu, Sipay’s Global CEO and Founder, at their bustling Money20/20 Europe booth and asked him to unlock the secret to business success.
Sipay is said to be Turkey’s fastest growing fintech as it serves thousands of businesses and millions of individuals, consistently ranking among the top three in its sector. Quite uniquely, Istanbul-based Sipay has a customer base that includes banking institutions, traditional industrial and retail businesses, technology leaders such as Hepsipay and Delivery Hero-acquired Yemeksepeti, as well as large international groups like Alibaba-owned Trendyol.
Another remarkable aspect is Sipay’s multi-product strategy. The fintech combines a wide range of payment solutions, including online and in-person payments, open banking, B-to-B systems, wire transfers, digital wallets, and prepaid cards, all under one seamless and secure platform, as well as B-to-B-to-C services through its white label solutions. The company processes nearly USD 600 million in monthly transactions and has a 10% market share in the payments space. The firm also claims close to 1 million users of its white-label services and about 100,000 Sipay brand customers. So what is Sipay’s secret?
“Stripe, Adyen and Revolut combined and more”
We asked Nezih, its Global CEO and Founder, to unlock the secret to business success. Instead of competing with banks, Sipay provides the services from banks and presents these on their banking platform, says Nezih . “What we say to merchants and individuals, instead of working with several banks or several fintechs, you can come to us and you’ll have everything in one place. In fact, we do what Stripe, Adyen and Revolut are doing – and more, all of these combined in one marketplace platform, which gives us a unique competitive edge.”
It’s all in the Sipay app
Individual customers are able to make instant, free transfers around the world, one of Sipay’s breakthroughs. Its ‘all in one’ app unites Virtual POS, Physical POS, Open Banking, Wire Transfer/EFT, Digital Wallet and Prepaid Card products under one umbrella, offering an easy, fast and secure payment experience. Plus, companies will be able to be on top of their finances and accept payments online hassle-free, by using Sipay easy-to-install checkout plugins or building their own checkout experience using the customizable widget and merchant API. Additionally, businesses can add financial products to their business with Sipay’s embedded financial marketplace solution.
For merchants, Sipay sorts out the online and offline payment processing. In addition to its card processing payment gateway, Sipay also offers a white-label digital wallet solution that enables retail brands to access services from multiple banks in a single app, whether comparing microcredit offers or applying for a credit card.
Forging partnerships
When talking with Nezih it soon became clear that Sipay is all about collaboration and forging partnerships. “Having our EMI (Electronic Money Institution) license, we’re able to provide a financial marketplace platform for whatever your financial needs are, both as a merchant or as an individual customer. We call it an “all in one” app for individuals and a “one stop shop” for merchants. At the end of the day, any funds we are holding for merchants are held in banks or we’re acquiring POS services from banks and reselling them to merchants.” The EMI licence allows Sipay to issue electronic money, facilitate digital payments and money disbursements, among other payment services and is a landmark for the business.
Ambitions are high
Sipay’s ambitions are high. With a year-over-year growth rate of more than 10x as of April 2024, at a run-rate revenue of USD 300 million, Sipay has been profitable since the beginning of 2023, showcasing its robust business model and operational efficiency in a highly competitive market. Nezih: “In the long term we’re looking to plan an IPO on NASDAQ. After Turkey, we aim to enter the UK and the European market to be followed by UAE and Saudi Arabia – this is the corridor we want to take. And we do all this with 185 incredibly talented people.”
Bundling funding expertise
Reflecting on the first tranche, Nezihsays: “This was our first funding round and we raised money from the global UK VC community and angel investors who have made unicorns in their careers.” Some well established investor names participating in the funding round included Jitendra Gupta of Citrus Pay and Jupiter, Amrish Rau of Pine Labs, Kunal Shah of CRED, Ravish Naresh of Khatabook, Sweta Rau of White Venture Capital and Edward Lando of Pareto Holdings, while also drawing funding from angel investors. The round was led by Anfa (https://www.anfavc.com/), a global investment firm known for its long-term partnerships with exceptional entrepreneurs.
Fueling growth
The successful first investment round will fuel Sipay’s product development and allow the fast-growing fintech to enhance its current product portfolio, catering to the needs of its B-to-B and B-to-C customers. With a user-centric approach at heart, Sipay is well-positioned to accelerate its product development and to revolutionize the way customers manage their finances. The fintech aims to integrate modern technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning, cryptocurrencies and open banking APIs into its super app, while continuing to build a seamless and most pleasant digital customer experience.
‘Empowering businesses and individuals’
Nezih Sipahioğlu, Founder and CEO Sipay, said, concludingly: “Sipay’s Money20/20 announcement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. We remain committed to our mission of empowering businesses and individuals through a comprehensive financial marketplace—a single worldwide platform offering a range of financial products and services to address their needs.”