Copper Street Capital

Copper Street Capital confirmed its position as lead investor in a €15 million fundraising round by Italian mobile payments service, Satispay. The closing of the transaction is subject to standard conditions precedents.

The mobile payment service launched in 2015 and has more than 340,000 active users, who exchange money with phone contacts and make payments to the 44,000 merchants already signed up. The company completed its series B financing round in 2017 and its total funding to date has risen to approximately €37 million.

Jerry del Missier, Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Copper Street Capital said: “We are delighted to be supporting the entire Satispay team in the continued development of their exciting business. Their business perfectly fits with our investment philosophy and they are already transforming a critical part of the financial services landscape in Italy. There is much more that can be achieved across Europe as well.”

Alberto Dalmasso, co-founder and CEO of Satispay added: “Satispay has grown tremendously and although currently only operating in the Italian market, for quite some time now it has attracted the attention of foreign parties, given its technology and the numbers that it is producing, which are comparable to companies operating on an international scale.

“My partners Dario Brignone, Samuele Pinta and I, together with the whole Satispay team, can only thank everybody for the support we are receiving by continuing to be faithful to our original vision. That is to simplify people’s lives starting with payments and to build on these new value-added services.”

The Satispay deal marks Copper Street’s second strategic investment as part of its business model. This model targets long-term strategic investments in financial services by capturing value opportunities in businesses across their entire life cycle, from growth investments to mature businesses.

In October 2017, Copper Street took a majority interest in one of UK’s leading independent debt purchase and collection businesses, Motormile Finance, subsequently rebranded as Lantern.

Denise Crossley, Chief Executive of Lantern, explains the significance of the company’s change of name…

It’s been a busy few years in the alternative lending sector.

In the midst of these changes in 2015, Motormile Finance UK (MMF) – the UK’s largest independent debt purchaser – underwent a significant transformation as a result of regulatory changes in the sector. This included implementing more rigorous internal processes and focusing on our strategic direction.

This was followed in October 2017 by significant investment from Copper Street One – an entity of UK specialist investment firm Copper Street Capital LLP – which has strengthened our balance sheet and enabled us to make a greater number of purchases since the acquisition.

Despite these significant internal changes, our public-facing brand has up to now remained largely unchanged. We knew it was time for the reputation we’ve built for industry-leading standards of customer care and regulatory compliance – for doing things the right way – to be reflected in our name.

That’s why we are proud to announce that, as of today, Motormile Finance (MMF) has become Lantern.

Why ‘Lantern’? Because we wanted a name that captured our ambition to be more than simply a debt purchaser and collector. We wanted a name that would remind us of the high standards we set ourselves – to go beyond mere compliance for our lenders and to genuinely care for each of our customers.

As we step into the future with a new name and a renewed sense of purpose – we do so believing we are a leading light in a changing industry, one that will surely see more lights appearing in years to come.