Fly Now Pay Later takes off with $75M investment round

Atalaya Capital Management is backing Fly Now Pay Later to the tune of a $75 million debt financing package.

The latest injection of capital brings the total invested in the U.K.-based staggered travel payment service to just over $150 million over seven rounds. 

The money will be used primarily to support the company's continued efforts to expand into the U.S., where it competes with the likes of Affirm and Uplift in the market.

Fly Now Pay Later raised a $15 million Series A round in May 2021, led by Revenio Capital and Taurus Wealth Advisor. This was a top-up round following a £35 million in Series A announced in March 2020.

The service works by allowing custuomers to spread the cost of a trip over 12 monthly payments.

Recent partnerships include deals with Malaysia Airlines and UATP, the airline payments network.

Founder and CEO Jasper Dykes says: "To have secured another landmark amount during one of the worst slow downs in travel history after it ground to a halt is testament to the efforts of the whole team.

"The U.S., which we entered in 2020, purposely formed a big part of our resilience plan as domestic leisure travel has been less affected than in Europe. And will continue to be a key focus as we enter 2022.

"There’s always a temptation to put the brakes on in times of significant headwinds, but with consumer expectations continuing to shift from traditional lending towards alternative convenient digital experiences, we upheld our investment commitments into developing our technology and threw ourselves into bolstering our partnership network in the states, which is really gaining momentum."

Competitor company Affirm was valued at $24 billion after a public listing in January 2021.

Sophia Melas, head of partnerships for Fly Now Pay Later, spoke to PhocusWire during the recent Pulse event: Progress In Travel Payments.

The full interview is included below...