Atlanta’s Transaction Alley is getting a new tenant — payments technology provider Fattmerchant. The Orlando-based fintech startup, which pitched onstage at the Venture Atlanta conference earlier this month, announced a $5.5 million funding round led by Atlanta-based Fulcrum Equity Partners. The capital will kickstart Fattmerchant’s expansion to Atlanta, allowing them to add close to 50 jobs, and fuel product development.
“The money will be used to continue to grow our technology as well towards our customer acquisition efforts,” says Suneera Madhani, CEO and founder. “We will be expanding our team rapidly and look forward to doubling our size in our new home in Atlanta.”
“Expanding to Atlanta will help us continue to develop our disruptive model and continue offering our merchant services to thousands of additional business owners looking for options that increase their bottom line. Atlanta was a perfect location to expand to not only strengthen our national presence, but while also residing in the nation’s most prominent payment community.”
Offering direct-cost pricing along with integrations and analytics, Fattmerchant helps businesses process their payments without markups or exorbitant fees. The startup recently hit the $1 billion transactions milestone, with thousands of clients across the country.
“Founded out of frustration toward the antiquated payment processing industry, Fattmerchant is the first subscription-based merchant services provider offering unlimited processing at direct cost for a flat monthly subscription,” says Madhani.
“With dedicated personal support, businesses are now able to pick a plan that works best for their needs, get the technology and analytics they deserve and save 40 percent on processing costs.”
Fattmerchant’s rapidly growing integrated payments technology caught the eye of Atlanta-based VC firm Fulcrum Equity Partners.
“Our goal is to work with innovators that can not only build great technology to change up an important industry, but manage the logistics to do it well. We look forward to seeing Fattmerchant continue to grow on a national level,” Jim Douglass of Fulcrum Equity Partners said in a statement.
Madhani shares that despite raising this sizable round of funding, finding investors willing to take a chance on Southeastern companies was difficult.
“I’ve found that it’s very difficult to attract early stage funding in the Southeast,” says Madhani. “We have been fortunate to have hit and surpass every milestone including hitting $1B in payments to gain traction from local investors. However, more investors need to look at the incredible startup scene in the Southeast and become more active so companies can get opportunities to flourish.”
“I’ve seen time and time again tons of great companies in our area that don’t survive to their Series B or even Series A.”
