Maven leads multi-million investment in Kani Payments to fuel growth
Press release
Maven Capital Partners ("Maven"), one of the UK’s leading private equity firms, has led a multi-million investment into Newcastle based fintech specialist, Kani Payments (“Kani”).
The transaction includes an investment from the Maven VCTs alongside NPIF II - Maven Equity Finance, which is managed by Maven as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (“NPIF II”).
Founded in 2018, Kani was created to address the complex challenges of payment reconciliation and reporting faced by banks, payment companies and other fintechs. The company’s award-winning SaaS platform automates, simplifies, and streamlines the process to save clients time and money, while ensuring compliance with industry and regulatory requirements.
The combined investment will be used to further develop Kani’s highly scalable platform, grow its team, and support international expansion. With increasing digitisation in financial services, alongside greater global safeguarding regulations, the requirement for compliant reporting solutions is greater than ever, positioning Kani for continued success.
Kani operates across five continents and has reconciled over €24 billion in processed payments to date. Kani’s innovative platform is currently used and trusted by many leading financial services companies such as Cardaq, Paysafe, Pluxee, and Transact Payments.
FT Partners served as the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Kani.
Rebecca MacDermid, Investment Manager at Maven Capital Partners, said:
Kani has developed an innovative, award-winning platform that is addressing a critical challenge in the fast evolving payments industry. The company's proprietary technology, coupled with the team's deep sector expertise, has helped the business achieve year on year growth with annual recurring revenues sharply increasing in the last year, driven by a 70% increase in clients. With the increasing complexity of payment reconciliation and regulatory compliance, demand for Kani's solution is set to grow further. We are excited to support Aaron and his team as they scale the business and expand into new global markets, particularly with significant opportunities emerging in the US.
Aaron Holmes, CEO at Kani Payments, added:
This investment marks a pivotal moment in Kani's evolution as we expand our automated reconciliation platform to meet surging global demand. With processed payments exceeding €24 billion and our client base spanning five continents, we see first hand how critical automated reconciliation has become for financial institutions. Maven's backing will accelerate our platform development and global expansion, particularly as we see increasing opportunities in markets where regulatory compliance and payment reconciliation complexity continue to grow.
Tony Kerr and Craig Dewar, Co-founders and Directors at Kani Payments, said:
This is the perfect time for Kani to bring on investment from an institutional firm like Maven. Their backing is a strong endorsement of Kani's vision, capabilities, and growth trajectory. This investment not only validates its position in the payments sector but also fuels the ability to scale rapidly, innovate further, and expand into new markets. With Maven's support, the business is well-positioned to accelerate its mission of transforming payment reconciliation and reporting for businesses worldwide.
Sarah Newbould, Senior Investment Manager, at the British Business Bank, said:
The North East has experienced a recent boom in tech growth and is now home to a broad ecosystem of thriving businesses. NPIF II was created to help foster growth in innovative companies like Kani Payments to further drive the region forward, create highly skilled jobs and cement the North East as a hub for tech talent.
The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIFII) covers the entire North of England and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.
The purpose of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the North of England. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for the North’s smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance.
Further Information
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Notes to editors
About Maven Capital Partners UK LLP
Maven Capital Partners is one of the UK’s leading private equity firms, specialising in investments in high-growth British companies. With a focus on innovation and value creation, Maven partners with visionary entrepreneurs to build market-leading businesses, supporting a range of transaction types, including management buyouts, growth capital, buy and build projects, equity value release and pre-IPO financing.
About the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II
- Operated by the British Business Bank, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) provides a mix of debt and equity funding. NPIF II will offer a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25k to £100k, debt finance from £100k to £2m and equity investment up to £5 million. It works alongside the Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), and Growth Hubs, as well as local intermediaries such as accountants, fund managers and banks, to support the North’s smaller businesses at all stages of their development.
- The funds in which the NPIF II invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, City of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees, South Teesside, Darlington, Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside, Sunderland.
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