VCs Back Payroll Startup For Underbanked — And Their Employers

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Payroll cards service underbanked employees by providing workers with a solution to get paid quickly and use their payroll funds sooner. But paycards have also attracted some criticism — and legal trouble — for the fees associated with those cards, from withdrawal fees to inactive account fees.

Venture capitalists, however, seem to have found a paycard and payroll startup to stand behind. On Sunday (Jan. 31), reports said dopay, a U.K.-based company that focuses its solutions on payroll for underbanked employees and their employers, secured $2.4 million in funding.

Techstars Ventures and Force Over Mass Capital provided the investment, reports said, which will be used to expand across the Middle East and Africa. According to reports, dopay’s next target market is Egypt.

In addition to linking employees with a Visa-compatible paycard, dopay provides cloud-based payroll tools for businesses. The card for employees also links to a mobile banking account and a money management mobile app.

In a statement following the funding round, dopay Founder and CEO Frans van Eersel said the venture capital was an opportunity the firm couldn’t pass up.

“When the opportunity presented itself to extend our runway, we happily took it,” he said. “The new investors in the round give us access to a wide network of contracts that will accelerate our growth. Moreover, the funding allows us to scale up our team, both in development and sales.”

[bctt tweet=”Dopay ‘creates a win-win situation for both the corporate and the consumer.'”]

Force Over Mass Capital CEO Martijn de Wever described dopay as an “exceptional” company and one that is “creating a win-win situation for both the corporate and the consumer.”

“It is a smart multi-stakeholder approach, which has proven to be very successful,” de Wever added.