GoCardless

GoCardless was founded in 2011 by Hiroki Takeuchi, Matt Robinson, and Tom Blomfield, who were students at Oxford University at the time.[5][6][7] The company's initial focus was on providing a platform for small and medium-sized businesses to collect recurring payments via direct debit.[8] In 2012, the company received £1.5 million in funding from investors, including Y Combinator, Google Ventures, Salesforce and Accel Partners.[9][10][11]

In 2013, GoCardless launched its service in the United Kingdom, and the company expanded into Europe in 2014, launching in France, Germany, and Spain.[12][13] In 2017, the company raised $22.5 million in a Series D funding round, bringing its total funding to $47.2 million.[14] In 2018, GoCardless launched its service in the United States with an office opening in San Francisco.[15][16] In 2020, the company expanded into Australia and New Zealand and raised $95 million, becoming a startup unicorn.[17][18][19][20][21]

In 2022 the company raised $312 million and was valued at $2.1 billion.[22][23]

In 2018, GoCardless partnered with QuickBooks, a cloud-based accounting software, to offer customers direct debit as a payment option. The partnership provided QuickBooks' customers with a way to collect recurring payments from their customers.[24][25]

In 2020, GoCardless announced a partnership with Zuora, a cloud-based subscription management platform. The partnership aimed to simplify the subscription billing process for Zuora's customers by providing them with access to GoCardless' global direct debit network.[26][27]

In July 2022, GoCardless announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire the Open Banking provider Nordigen for an undisclosed sum.[28][29]

The company offers an API that enables businesses to integrate GoCardless into their own websites or applications, as well as pre-built integrations with accounting and billing software such as Xero, QuickBooks, and Zuora. The company aims to provide an alternative to traditional payment methods, such as credit and debit cards, which can be costly for businesses to manage.[30][31][32][33]

In addition to its payment processing services, GoCardless provides a variety of tools to help businesses manage their payments, including real-time payment tracking and reporting, payment failure alerts, and customer insights.[34]

In 2020 the company launched a service called GoCardless for Salesforce, which allows businesses to collect payments and manage their customer data within Salesforce's customer relationship management (CRM) platform.[35]