Payment technology innovator Zooz has inked a deal with PayU that will help merchants reach customers in high growth markets. The partnership combines Zooz’s expertise in facilitating cross-border payments – including the company’s Smart Routing technology – with PayU’s deep presence in emerging markets around the world.
“PayU is clearly aware of the opportunities and barriers faced by international merchants,” Zooz CEO Oren Levy said. “The combination of PayU’s expertise and customer base with Zooz’s advanced technology platform is a natural fit, and we look forward to helping merchants gain access to new global markets and opportunities,” he said. Citing cross-border payment infrastructure as a major challenge for businesses in high growth markets, PayU CCO Matthias Setzer added that Zooz’s technology would “help us solve some of the difficulties facing merchants.” Setzer noted that the high growth markets PayU specializes in make up 85% of the world’s population. “Ambitious merchants are increasingly attracted to the business opportunities this presents,” he said.
The news from Zooz and PayU comes weeks before the two companies are slated to make further partner-related announcements during the Money20/20 Europe conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. We will update this post as soon as the companies make the news public.
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Raanana, Israel, Zooz demonstrated its Transforming Checkout technology at FinovateFall 2013. The company has raised more than $39 million in funding, including a $24 million Series C completed in May 2016. The company includes Target Global, Blumberg Capital, XSeed Capital, and lool ventures among its investors. Named to Emerging Stars roster of H2 Ventures and KPMG’s 2016 Fintech 100 in October, we featured Zooz in our look at fintech innovation in Israel.
PayU is an online payment service provider with local operations in 16 high-growth markets around the world including in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. The company is the e-payments division of multi-national media corporation Naspers Ltd. which was founded in 1915. Last month, PayU forged a global partnership with Finovate alum, Kreditech, investing more than $124 million (€110 million) in the German-based company. Former PayPal executive Laurent le Moal joined PayU as CEO in January 2016.