seQura, the leading BNPL and flexible payment platform in Southern Europe, has earmarked €10M to open an innovation center in Barcelona, where it’s had its HQ since 2014.

Most of the money has been going towards hiring new talent, with almost 100 new employees having been hired for the last 18 months, while around €1M has gone towards the renovation of their offices located in the heart of Barcelona.

“Swedish bank Svea contributed €35M in exchange for taking a minority stake in seQura,” says David Bäckström, seQura’s CEO, who holds over 75% of the capital with the rest of the founding team.

Expanding to international markets

Part of the funding will also go towards internationalization, having launched the French, Italian and Portuguese market over the last year. “These countries require a bank license to operate our services, which Svea has provided us,” says Bäckström.

While Spain remains the core market, kicking off these countries has helped push the company forward, along with the now well-established online buying. With e-commerce booming since the pandemic, giving the users an easy, flexible payment solution is more important than ever.

Supporting local growth

While seQura’s aim to grow across Europe is a natural step, it’s still key for the company to support business initiatives in Barcelona, seQura’s hometown. That’s why they joined Tech Barcelona as a global partner, with the aim of working together with over a thousand companies that belong to the city’s rich digital ecosystem.

With the finance sector always reinventing itself, Barcelona has the opportunity to lead this transformation with its tech and talent, as well as with companies like seQura at the forefront of this change.