Ahead Of Its IPO, PayMate Ropes In Ex Visa Employee Kevin Phalen As Independent Director

IPO-bound fintech startup PayMate has appointed former Visa employee Kevin Phalen as an independent director. 

Phalen who was working as head of global commercial business at Visa will help PayMate team for global expansion.

People aware of the development told Inc42 that Phalen will help PayMate with strategic and business operations ahead of its public offering. Phalen will play a crucial role for PayMate in business expansion overseas. 

On joining PayMate, Phalen said, “I am equally excited to join PayMate, one of the leading providers of financial technology solutions that digitise, automate and streamline B2B payments in supply chains and offers a cloud-based platform to customers for all their supply chain payments, statutory payments and bill payments. This is a booming sub-set of the overall payments industry in which PayMate, through its platforms, is offering supplementary avenues for businesses to use commercial cards and automate their end-to-end processes. Together, I am of the opinion, we will create a wider base of PayMate users across the globe.”

Appointment of independent directors is a standard procedure for a startup gearing towards its initial public offering. Earlier, API Holding, the parent company of PharmEasy had appointed five independent directors ahead of filing INR 6,250 DRHP. Logistics platform Delhivery had also appointed three independent directors – Kalpana Moparia, Romesh Sobti, and Sugata Gupta before drafting its prospectus of INR 7,460 Cr.

More recently, ecommerce platform SnapDeal which is also heading for around $250 Mn IPO and is yet to file its prospectus with market regulator SEBI has appointed Ullas Kasaragod Kamath, Anisha Motwani, and Kaushik Motwani as independent directors. 

PayMate has also announced that it has launched its services in the United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As per the company, enterprises using PayMate platform can use bank-issued commercial cards on the platform to make early payments towards supplier invoices into their bank accounts and extend their days payables. 

All payments made and received using the platform will be automatically reconciled, giving a clear single view into the business’s cash flow. 

Founded by Ajay Adiseshann and Probir Roy in 2006, PayMate enables enterprise and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) businesses to automate and digitise their entire procurement to payment cycle (procure-to-pay). Its product features include vendor management, vendor payments, customer payments, invoicing, supply chain financing options, and more.

In September, Inc42 had exclusively reported that PayMate is in talks to raise around $100 Mn in its pre-IPO round, which will help it to enter the celebrated unicorn club. 

As per media reports, PayMate is eyeing for a $400 Mn public offer in the domestic market. PayMate now joins the likes of Pine Labs, Ola, BYJU’s, and Snapdeal, who are yet to file their prospectus with the market regulator.