Rivero Raises $7 Million to Expand Payment Automation Offering

Swiss FinTech Rivero plans to expand to new markets after raising $7 million.

Rivero, which specializes in digitization and automation of payment processes, announced the Series A funding round in a Thursday (Jan. 11) press release, saying it would help the company speed growth across new markets and boost product and workforce development.

Founded in 2019, Rivero described its goal in the release as “simplifying payment operations for the highly regulated payments industry, filling a gap in the market for fraud recovery, dispute management and payment scheme compliance solutions.”

The company offers two Software-as-a-Service products: Kajo, for payment scheme compliance; and Amiko, which “digitalizes the entire fraud recovery and dispute process,” per the release.

In 2022, Rivero became the first Swiss FinTech to take part in the Visa FinTech Partner Connect program.

“We’re thrilled to share the news of our Series A round, especially given the current challenging market conditions,” said Rivero Co-founder and CEO Thomas Müller in the release.

The Series A follows a year in which investment in European companies — and companies in most parts of the world — plummeted. Investment in FinTechs last year came to $51.2 billion, down 48% from 2022. The total number of funding deals fell as well, dropping 61% from nearly 6,400 in 2022 to 3,933 last year.

As for investments in European startups, a report in November by venture firm Atomico projected that fundraising in the space would reach around $45 billion for the year, down from $82 billion in 2022.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS Intelligence examined the benefits of payment automation in the report “Accounts Payable and Receivable Trends: What’s Next in Automation.”

“Firms expect automation to bring wide-ranging improvements and help them remain strong against economic headwinds,” PYMNTS wrote last month. “Mid-sized firms that have fully automated their AP processes enjoy nearly double the supplier satisfaction.”

Forty-four percent of mid-sized firms expect to see cost savings and enhanced cash flow from implementing further automation within the next three years, while 48% expect to see payment processes speed up, bringing with them more dependable payments and a wider range of payment options.