Aufinity Group raises $26 million in Series C funding for further Expansion in Europe

Cologne, May 21st 2025 - The German fintech Aufinity Group today announces the successful completion of a Series C funding of 26 million US-Dollars. The round is led by BlackFin Capital Partners, a leading European private equity firm focused exclusively on financial services buyouts and fintechs. Existing investors PayPal Ventures and Seaya Ventures are re-investing after leading the company's Series B financing last year. The rapid success of its international business and high demand from the market prompted the Aufinity Group to implement this financing round earlier than planned.  The fintech will use the capital to further drive its European expansion and strategic partnerships with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

“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.”

With the platform Aufinity, the fintech is the market leader for payment management in the automotive sector. It offers car dealers and OEMs a digital, white-label-capable appearance and optimized payment management across the entire automotive market - from vehicle sales to after-sales. Optimized payment processes ensure faster incoming payments, higher liquidity, more efficiency and a better customer experience.

“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.

PayPal Ventures and Seaya Ventures already led the Series B financing of the Aufinity Group in 2024. With this investment, the company started its expansion in Italy and Spain in the same year. 

“Since our initial investment, the team has executed exceptionally—scaling their annualized 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.

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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About Aufinity Group 

Aufinity Group GmbH, based in Cologne, is a fintech with a mission to redefine payment management in the European automotive industry. Founded in 2018 by Lasse Diener and Ulrich Schmidt, the company specializes in the digitalization and automation of payment management in the automotive sector with its products “bezahl.de” for German-speaking countries and “Aufinity” for the international market. This enables companies to save important resources, significantly improve the purchasing experience and refocus on their core business.  In spring 2025, the company opened new branches in Madrid and Rome, which are specifically focused on the respective national markets.

About BlackFin Capital Partners

Focused on investing in financial services companies, BlackFin is the European sector leader with over €4bn assets under management. With its venture capital strategy, BlackFin invests in the fastest growing fintechs and insurtechs across Europe from Series A to Series C. Founded in 2009, BlackFin Capital Partners is an independent private equity and venture capital firm led by nine partners who have worked together as managers and entrepreneurs in the financial industry for decades. The team has c. 50 professionals across offices in Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels and London.

About PayPal Ventures 

PayPal Ventures is the global corporate venture arm of PayPal. We invest for financial return in six areas of high strategic relevance to PayPal, including fintech, payments, commerce enablement, artificial intelligence, blockchain & cryptocurrency, and regulatory/cyber technology. Through the expertise, experience, and vast network of PayPal Ventures – and the companies we invest in – we are helping to bring transformative solutions to market faster. For more information, please visit: https://www.paypal.vc. 

About Seaya Ventures

Seaya is a leading European Venture Capital fund, with offices in Madrid, that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building global technology companies.

Seaya raised its first funding in 2013 and currently manages over €600 million across five early-stage venture funds. Seaya accelerates the growth of startups by leveraging the founder’s strategic vision, providing them with Seaya’s global platform, its extensive network of founders, investors and multinational corporations, as well as all its experience in the global expansion of companies such as Glovo, Cabify, Wallbox (NYSE:WBX), Spotahome, Clarity AI, Clicars, Alma and RatedPower.

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