Aria raises €15m to digitise payments for businesses

The company is working with more than 100 platforms to bridge the payment timing gap between suppliers and buyers

Paris-based fintech Aria has secured €15m in a funding round led by 13books Capital, with participation from Adevinta Ventures, Ankaa Ventures, Otium Capital and angel investors. 

Aria’s mission is to bring a digital payment experience to all businesses.  

Co-founded in 2019 by Clement Carrier and Vincent Folny, Aria emerged from the firsthand experience of the founders as freelancers, who understood the challenges of delayed payments and income uncertainty.  

The company is working with more than 100 platforms to bridge the payment timing gap between suppliers and buyers, allowing direct payments across Europe. Buyers can enjoy up to 90 days to settle invoices.  

In the past year, on the back of growth in France and its UK launch, Aria has processed more than €500m in payments for 30,000 businesses and freelancers.  

Aria is supported by a €150m facility from several investors, including M&G Investments.  

Carrier, the chief executive officer of Aria, said: “Businesses face a big bottleneck when it comes to payments.”

Carrier pointed out that while most online business purchases are completed by credit cards, preferred methods like wires, checks and online banking often remain offline, entailing complex processes, numerous communications and long payment delays.  

He added: “While B2B payment volume is 5x the size of B2C retail payments, only 7% of B2B commerce is transacted online. Aria replaces the outdated method of B2B payments with an online experience that closely resembles B2C.” 

Stefan Grabmann, principal at Adevinta Ventures, said: “Aria has developed a powerful solution enabling businesses and freelancers to receive payments on their own terms.  

“We believe that the future of B2B marketplaces is fintech-enabled, and Aria is spearheading this transformation across Europe.” 

Image: Aria 

Josh Poyser Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.