Payment company Nayax took in another $60 million from an unnamed American investor, Israel’s Calcalist said, signaling investors’ rebounding appetite for intelligent vending machines.
The funding is largest capital raised by a payment company focused on vending machines, according to PitchBook. The vending machine market is growing in Europe and is expected to top $25 billion by 2025, Research and Markets’ said in a report. Consumer demand for easy access to healthy food and cashless payments are supporting the market’s growth.
The new funding boosts Nayax’s valuation to $400 million, Calcalist said, citing people familiar with the matter. Founded in 2005, the Hunt Valley, Maryland and Tel Aviv-based company focuses on cashless payment systems for vending machines. It has previously received $24.5 million in February 2018 from Quebec’s SafeCharge, according to CrunchBase. SafeCharge was acquired by Nuvei last year for $889 million, according to PitchBook data.
Nayax’s $60 million funding reverses venture capital’s recent trend of declining investments in vending machines. Those investments hit a high in 2017, when seven companies raised $80.03 million. Chinese startups are the most active players in the field, with half of the companies that have raised money in the last five year located there. Shanghai-based Citybox raised $25 million Series B in 2018, bringing its total raised to $40 million.
- Nayax payment systems are used in laundromats, snacks machines, car washes and other automated systems. It provides cashless solutions including credit and debit cards, prepaid or postpaid cards, mobile app payment, and QR codes.
- The company claimed its payment technology can save time and improve sales by provideing customers with different payment needs.
- Western Europe will soon be overtaken by China and India as the top market for intelligent vending, according to an Adroit Market Research report.
