Two months after firing 40 percent of employees, fintech bank raises $70 million

The funding round was led by Mr Koundouris’ investment company Silva Fortune, and also included money from Tekkorp, according to Davey. He talked to Australian Financial Review rather than founder and CEO Shadi Haddad.

Davey said both firms had been investors in Till Payments from its previous rounds, and their ability to raise such a large amount in the current, more depressed tech investment market represented a big show of faith.

“I don’t care who you are, you could be BHP and raise $70 million and that would be a result, so we’re quite happy about that,” Davey said.

“A large part of what we have invested funds in previously was in our own technology platform, and that technology investment phase is basically complete.

“I think our investors saw that we’re at this inflection point where the huge investment in the technology platform itself and customer onboarding is almost complete. And I think everybody got pretty excited about that.”

Till Payments declined to name any of the other investors in the funding round, but said there were about 30 involved.

Restructuring of the company

Asked about the layoffs and board changes, Davey said he had been brought in at the request of other investors when it became apparent that the focus of the company needed to change at a time of higher interest rates.

He said this meant less of a “growth at any cost” approach, and more of a focus on operational discipline.

“From a customer-facing perspective, everyone is super happy with the business and the technology,” Davey said. “But from an investment perspective, we also need a path to profitability.

“With the new structure of the board, we have some real operating experience and capacity that will be here to help strengthen management’s focus on this.”

Till Payments offers a payment platform and terminals across online and physical channels. Mr Koundouris was a customer through Supabarn, before he became a board member.

“As a long-time investor and customer of Till Payments, we have seen the company’s unwavering commitment to its merchants and to delivering exceptional payment products and services,” Koundouris said.

“It’s exciting to be a part of Till Payments’ next phase of growth as the company continues to innovate and disrupt the payments industry.”

Runs the company

Davey said he was in an independent director role at Till Payments but was acting in a more “hands on” capacity during the transition phase of the company’s restructuring.

He said he fronted the media to discuss the funding round and strategy, instead of Haddad, as the board wanted the executive team to focus on operational issues.

Haddad reinvested personal capital in the latest round of funding, as a company spokeswoman said he remained committed to future growth.

“We work really hard to turn down the noise and make sure management can focus on the signal instead of being distracted,” Davey said.

“One of the things a board can do to help is take on communications with both investors and external stakeholders.

“We will continue to work to optimize the management of the company as we move forward.

“In terms of long-term management, Shadi is a key shareholder, who will be a long-term member of the business going forward. We will continue to refine the management and make sure we have the right people in the right roles, so I think you will see continuous improvement and structuring around how we run the company.”

Till Payments’ previous funding round had been capped at a reported value of $500 million. Reports since had suggested the latest round would come in at a lower valuation, or a “down round” in industry parlance.

Davey declined to provide a post-funding valuation.

“I would say that’s consistent with valuations we’re seeing across the fintech space,” he said.