PayPal’s venture capital arm is spearheading a substantial funding round for a payments startup that helps businesses handle transactions.
Amsterdam-based Klearly has secured $14 million in Series A funding. The round also attracted heavyweight participation from Italian Founders Fund alongside existing backers Global PayTech Ventures, Antler Elevate, and Shapers, bringing the company’s total funding to $24 million since its 2023 founding.
What makes this deal particularly striking is Klearly’s rapid trajectory toward processing nearly $1 billion in annual payment volume with just 40 employees spread across Tel Aviv, Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium.
Disrupting traditional payment systems
Klearly’s breakthrough lies in its payments integration approach that sidesteps the traditional hardware replacement model entirely. Instead of forcing businesses to overhaul expensive systems, the company developed a payments layer that connects directly with existing point-of-sale infrastructure, eliminating costly proprietary devices completely.
The startup’s flagship “Tap to Pay” technology transforms smartphones and tablets into payment processing devices, working across Android, Apple, and modern terminal systems. Apple recognized this innovation by selecting Klearly as the first fintech globally to launch Tap to Pay on iPhone nearly a year ago.
The momentum since then has been good. Klearly onboarded 4,000 merchants and saw payment volume surge 500% throughout 2024, proving businesses are hungry for hardware-free payment solutions.
This approach eliminates installation headaches, reduces costs, and gets merchants accepting payments faster than any traditional method.
Why PayPal is betting on European payment innovation
This investment represents far more than another funding round—it’s part of PayPal’s broader European expansion strategy that’s been gaining unprecedented momentum. The payments giant has been aggressively building its European portfolio, previously leading a €25 million Series B for French wealth management app Finary in September.
Beyond investments, PayPal’s European focus extends into partnerships. In November, the company renewed a €65 billion agreement with KKR to expand Buy-Now-Pay-Later services across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK through 2028.
The numbers driving this European push are interesting. Europe’s BNPL market is projected to reach $190 billion in 2025 and expand to $293 billion by 2030.
The strategic rationale becomes crystal clear when examining PayPal’s recent investment pattern. Nearly four years ago, analysis revealed the company had backed over 30 companies and forged hundreds of partnerships focused on global market entry and financial services expansion beyond traditional payment processing.
PayPal isn’t just diversifying geographically—they’re positioning for the next wave of payment innovation, where device-agnostic solutions completely dominate the landscape.
The fresh capital will fuel Klearly’s expansion into new European markets, as it tries to capture the growing demand for flexible payment solutions.
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