Fintech Zeller is taking its business banking platform to the UK in its first international expansion.
The fast-growing Melbourne unicorn has appointed former ByteDance executive Lars Weber as UK country manager and is looking to put 40 pairs of boots on the ground there over the next three years, with team members already recruited from the likes of Square and Pockit ahead of the launch.
Cofounder and CEO Ben Pfisterer said existing global partnerships with Oracle, Xero, Tevalis, and Redcat will also provide Zeller with the integrations to roll out internationally.
“This is a pivotal moment for Zeller. Our ambition has always been to create a global platform for small business banking,” he said.
“Expanding into the UK – one of the world’s largest and most dynamic small business economies – is the first step in realising that vision.”
Pfisterer and fellow former Square exec Ben Dominic Yap, founder Zeller in 2020, and the fintech now serves the banking needs of more than 100,000 Australian businesses in under five years, also building a team of 320 people.
It hit unicorn status – valued at more than $1 billion – in just two years following a $100 million series B in March 2022 after just 10 months of operation.
Zeller’s backers include super fund Hostplus and Square Peg
UK customers will have the same access to payments, business accounts, cards, expense management, invoicing, and real-time financial reporting as Australian users. Pfisterer sees massive opportunity in a country were more than 50% of UK SMEs still use up to 10 disconnected payment and banking tools to manage their finances.
“Zeller’s rapid success in Australia demonstrated that business owners everywhere are tired of outdated systems that make managing their finances harder,” he said.
“The UK is one of the most advanced fintech markets in the world, and our experience building and deploying Australia’s leading all-in-one payments and financial solution to over 100,000 businesses has readied Zeller for global expansion.
“Our decision to enter now reflects both the maturity of our product, and the scale of the global opportunity ahead of us to deliver a smarter and more accessible way for small businesses to manage their cash flow.”
NOW READ: ‘Every dollar we raise, we treat like our last’: Zeller’s Ben Pfisterer on building a unicorn fintech with VC
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