German FinTech startup Aufinity Group raises €23 million to innovate payments in the automotive sector

The Cologne-based FinTech startup Aufinity Group, an innovator in the payment management in the automotive sector, today announces the completion of a Series C funding of €23 million to drive its European expansion and strategic partnerships with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

The round is led by BlackFin Capital Partners. Existing investors PayPal Ventures and Seaya Ventures are re-investing after leading the company’s Series B financing last year.

“With this round, we are focusing on accelerating our growth across Europe even further. Through new strategic partnerships with leading OEMs and by continuing our focus on dealerships, we are preparing to redefine the industry standard for the whole of Europe,” explains Lasse Diener, Co-founder and CEO of the Aufinity Group.

“Our core business in Germany is already solidly positioned. However, the high level of interest from the international market has prompted us to push ahead with our expansion into more countries earlier than planned, which is a great market confirmation for our business and platform,” Diener adds.

Founded in 2018 by Lasse Diener and Ulrich Schmidt, the company specialises in the digitalisation and automation of payment management in the automotive sector with its products ‘bezahl.de’ for German-speaking countries and “Aufinity” for the international market.

“We have been closely monitoring the company for a couple of years already and have been impressed by the execution skills of the team. The success of their recent expansion abroad convinced us to invest in the company to support the European rollout and further enrich the payment orchestration capabilities of Aufinity”, says Maxime Mandin, Managing Director at BlackFin Capital Partners.

In spring 2025, the company opened new branches in Madrid and Rome, which are specifically focused on their respective national markets.

“Since our initial investment, the team has executed exceptionally – scaling their annualised platform volume and expanding successfully into after-sales, enterprise, and new geographies like Iberia and Italy. Doubling down on our support was a natural next step,” said Alexandros Bottenbruch, Investor with PayPal Ventures.

Aufinity offers car dealers and OEMs a digital, white-label-capable appearance and optimised payment management across the entire automotive market – from vehicle sales to after-sales. Optimised payment processes ensure faster incoming payments, higher liquidity, more efficiency and a better customer experience.

Aris Xenofontos, Partner at Seaya, adds: “We are excited to continue supporting Lasse, Ulrich, Markus and the team in next phase of the growth of the business. Since our investment, we have been impressed with the team’s ability to capture successfully the strong demand in international markets, such as Spain and Italy.”

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