Qomodo, the fintech startup revolutionizing the payment of essential expenses from physical stores with the power of convenience, has arrived

07 nov 2023 Press Release, Qomodo

Milan, Nov 7th, 2023 - Qomodo is the new Italian fintech that brings to physical stores a suite of smart payments solutions, including the Buy Now Pay Later formula, for essential, often unforeseen and must-have expenses, increasing customers' peace of mind and merchants' business volume.

Conceived and founded by Gianluca Cocco and Gaetano De Maio, two entrepreneurs who boast exits in the tech sphere in Italy and abroad between 2018 and 2022 and who have already in the past helped increase the turnover of Italy's physical merchants through the launch of new technological products to boost sales and digitize collection processes.

Within a few months, Qomodo gained the confidence of lead investor Fasanara Capital with a €34.5 million raise (in the form of equity and line of credit), constituting one of the most important pre-seeds in Italy in the tech sector to date. Also participating in the round were funds Exor Ventures, Proximity Capital, Ithaca Investment, Lumen Ventures, The Techshop, and Primo Ventures - as well as the international Notion Capital, Octopus Ventures, and Plug and Play Tech Center. While among the angels who have joined are Mark Ransford, Luca Ascani, Attilio Mazzilli, Simone Mancini (Scalapay), Benedetta Arese Lucini, Kai Hansen (Lieferando), Giorgio Tinacci (Casavo), Stiven Muccioli (BKN301), Freddy Kelly (Credit Kudos), Christer Holloman (Divido), Raffaele Terrone (Scalapay), LCA Ventures, and Andrea Gennarini.

Qomodo is thus the "simplifier" that enables merchants to grow their business through the certainty of immediate, secure, and transparent cash receipts and the increase of their regular customers' spending power through interest-free installment payments. It is positioned in the digital payments market as an aggregator of payment systems, designed to enable merchants to protect and amplify their cash flow and allow customers to pay in convenient interest-free installments with the Buy Now Pay Later formula.

Gianluca Cocco, CEO and co-founder of Qomodo, comments, "We have developed a new collection product that offers merchants all the payment solutions they need today: from the traditional POS in the SmartPOS version, to innovative products such as Buy Now Pay Later, Pay-by-Link or Tap-to-Phone. In this way we bring innovation to many sectors that often suffer from excessive technological lag and suffer from the slow and complex mechanisms of bureaucracy. Qomodo aims to bring the benefits of payments from the online world to physical stores, focusing on essential expenditures that impact people's quality of life. Motivated by the first encouraging market signals, the interest aroused in prominent international partners and the trust given to us by investors, we count on growing and contracting hundreds of new merchants per month."

Gaetano De Maio, COO and co-founder of Qomodo, adds, "Through a simple, transparent and secure platform, Qomodo allows merchants to free themselves from the stress related to customer relations in managing payments-now more than ever a very delicate aspect-allowing them to focus totally on their business. Qomodo represents the extra suite of tools to grow their business, building customer loyalty and winning new customers. At the same time, with the Buy Now Pay Later solution without interest and fees, consumers can meet their needs by accessing services

hitherto unavailable, especially in the world of physical stores. We are, in fact, ensuring an easy and immediate transition to digital, a scenario full of opportunities for many operators who have not yet opened up to innovation in this direction."

Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital, says, "Buy Now Pay Later has revolutionized the world of online shopping over the past few years. Qomodo brings this technology to the service of physical retail in areas hitherto neglected, adding additional payment solutions that enhance the merchant and consumer experience. We strongly believe in the team assembled by Gianluca and Gaetano in a market in its infancy that presents significant growth opportunities."

Antonio Assereto, CEO of Proximity Capital, says, "The payments industry offers several opportunities, especially in market verticals that today are not finding offerings that are adequately tailored to their needs, particularly in the offline context. We believe that Gianluca and Gaetano, with the team they are building, have the vision, experience and expertise to develop a solution that is perfectly tailored to the needs of the industry, generating significant impact and making a major contribution to its digitization."

Davide Fioranelli, CEO of Lumen Ventures, says, "While many companies underestimate the potential of fintech products in offline channels, Qomodo stands out as an exceptional opportunity. There are two key factors behind this success: its proprietary scoring technology and its positioning as unique as a collection software. This innovative approach is transforming the experience of merchants and consumers in physical stores, particularly during major purchases. The forward-thinking approach and proven track record of the Qomodo team make it an attractive investment opportunity in the fintech space."

How does Qomodo works?

Qomodo is a collection platform that allows merchants to monitor their collection performance with a single dashboard. Managed payments are:

"Pay with Qomodo" the Buy Now Pay Later formula for interest-free installment payments offered by Qomodo: the customer chooses the installment plan and receives an approval in about 30 seconds, without providing pay stubs or other paperwork;

"Qomodo POS" i.e., a state-of-the-art Android smartPOS - which accepts traditional credit/debit cards from Mastercard, VISA, ATM circuits;

"Pay on the fly" which is the "Digital POS" mode that allows remote payments made through cards to be collected using the pay-by-link system (e.g., for remote product sales or service assistance) or "Tap-to-phone," a technology that allows Android smartphones to be transformed into POS (called "SoftPOS") capable of accepting contactless payments.

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