Insight-backed PayCargo Inks First VC Funding For Supply Chain Payments

PayCargo, a payments network for the global supply chain industry, received its first institutional funding round, a $35 million Series A, led by Insight Partners.

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The company’s leadership interviewed more than 40 firms before choosing Insight, Eduardo del Riego, global CEO of PayCargo, told Crunchbase News.

“We think this is the right logical step,” he said. “We wanted to secure the right partner, and we think we have with Insight. Growth potential is limited if you just use your profits, and Insight brings expertise and more than 60 employees working to help companies grow.”

The Coral Gables, Florida-based company provides a cloud-based, contactless payment ecosystem that enables payers to quickly and securely pay vendors, such as air and ocean carriers, maritime ports, ground handlers, freight forwarders and customs brokers, for a more streamlined cargo experience.

PayCargo moves approximately $4 billion in cargo payments a year, but del Riego said the company covers less than 3 percent of the global supply chain finance market, which grew to between $50 billion and $75 billion in 2019, according to estimates from the International Chamber of Commerce.

“This is a huge market, and it is also global, so the opportunity is enormous,” he added. “We are at the tip of the iceberg.”

PayCargo’s business started on the East Coast in 2008 and now has offices in Amsterdam and Madrid, and more than 60 employees. With the new funding, the company will expand adoption of its electronic payments network and accelerate investments in its technology.

The company also is exploring a presence on the West Coast in either Seattle or Los Angeles, as well as in Asia and the Middle East, del Riego said.

Meanwhile, as part of the investment, Ryan Hinkle, managing director at Insight Partners will join PayCargo’s board of directors. He said, via email, that the company first found PayCargo appealing due to investing in other supply chain and payments companies, including E2Open, Project44 and Checkout.com.

“Time and again, we’ve seen that supply chain as a category has lagged in software and electronic payments adoption–many transactions are still completed over the phone, over email, and with paper checks,” he said. “We identified the supply chain space as an area of immense promise for software payments solutions, and reached out to PayCargo proactively. We were quickly impressed by the hyper growth in PayCargo’s payment network. Eduardo and team had clearly built something very special that was providing immense value to both payers and vendors. Their network is winning over the marketplace and bringing the whole supply chain ecosystem online.”

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias