FLIZpay raises 1 million US dollars pre-seed

The Berlin-based startup FLIZpay has closed a pre-seed financing round of 1 million US dollars. The round was led by international early-stage investor Antler, supported by business angels from the fintech scene. The company intends to use the capital to scale its mobile payment method, which is to be free of charge for around 90 percent of companies.

The investors include Johannes Schaback (former CTO of SumUp), the founders of viaFinTech (Sebastian Seifert, Achim Bönsch and Andreas Veller), Manuel Sandhofer (EMEA head of the Wise platform) and Philipp Kreibohm, founder of home24.

Fee-free payment for merchants and customers

FLIZpay aims to become the preferred mobile payment method in Germany and the EU. The core of the technology is the elimination of unnecessary intermediaries in the payment process, which have so far caused high transaction costs.

Payment fees are enormous, but not visible to consumers. With FLIZpay, we are making payments more accessible for companies and giving consumers the opportunity to better influence the costs of their purchases.

Konrad Holtkamp, co-founder of FLIZpay

For merchants, this means lower or no fees. For consumers, it opens up the opportunity to influence the cost of their purchases more transparently. At the same time, the start-up relies on a European solution that works independently of global payment providers. This means that all data remains entirely within the EU.

Market potential in the three-digit billion range

The market for digital payments is huge. According to the company, 50 million private customers could be addressed in Germany alone. The annual volume of card and cash payments is around 800 billion euros.

FLIZpay's focus on customer orientation and merchant friendliness, combined with regulatory and technological innovation, opens up enormous market potential and fills an existing gap for all market participants.

Manuel Sandhofer, Wise

Over 500 merchants and more than 50,000 payers are already using FLIZpay solutions. The launch at Trade Republic, one of the first major partners, is currently going particularly well. Several investors see FLIZpay as an opportunity to fundamentally modernize an outdated infrastructure.

Founded on experience in the financial sector

FLIZpay was founded in October 2023 by Konrad Holtkamp and Roberto Ammirata. The idea was born when the two founders met while surfing and later took shape during an Antler residency in Berlin.

Holtkamp has experience in investment banking and consulting, including at BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and zeb. A study on European payment transactions commissioned by Olaf Scholz, in which he was involved, revealed to him the dependence on US systems and the high fee structures - a key experience for the foundation.

Ammirata complements the expertise with more than seven years of experience as a full-stack developer in the financial services sector. He worked at PwC, Accenture and UBS before setting up his own crypto startup.