Payment Platform Kadmos Raises $29M

Berlin-based FinTech startup Kadmos has secured 29 million euros ($29 million) to grow its payment processing platform for migrant workers, according to a Monday (July 11) press release.

The Series A funding round was led by Blossom Capital, with participation from existing investors Addition and Atlantic Labs.

Founded in 2021 by Justus Schmueser and Sasha Makarovych, Kadmos streamlines the salary payments of migrant workers. It consists of a worker-facing app with a multicurrency wallet and an API for employers, many in the shipping industry.

“The financial restrictions placed on migrant workers are truly shocking. Employees need to wait days or weeks for their hard-earned salaries to reach their families and are then forced into paying exorbitant transaction fees or have to carry large sums of cash at their own risk,” Schmueser said. “At Kadmos, we are working to change the status quo through cutting-edge financial technology and ensuring the hard-working people who power the global economy can keep more of their well-deserved salaries.”

At present, employers that use Kadmos are concentrated in the shipping industry, but the startup plans to use the new capital to expand into other sectors such as construction, healthcare and hospitality.

The money will also be used to grow the team further and develop its technology and service offering.

Commenting on the news, Alex Lim, managing partner of Blossom Capital, said: “With outdated banking practices and multiple intermediaries that charge excessive fees, it’s clear that the process for cross-border payments is broken, and Kadmos’ FinTech platform is exactly the technology to fix it.”

Technologies that help migrant workers get paid faster and manage their money more efficiently are essential in sectors where job security levels and salaries can be low, meaning that many workers live paycheck to paycheck.

PYMNTS data revealed that 65% of consumers living paycheck to paycheck have experienced at least one financially stressful event in the past three years, with sudden income disruptions, such as losing a job, being the most common.

Read more: The New Reality Check: The Paycheck-To-Paycheck Report: The Financial Distress Factors Edition

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