Payments Startup Primer Secures USD 100 Mn to Expand AI Capabilities and US Presence
The Series C funding round was led by Sofina, with participation from Peak XV Partners and existing investors including Accel, Balderton, ICONIQ, Tencent and Speedinvest.
Primer
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Primer, a London-based payments infrastructure startup, has raised USD 100 million in a Series C funding round led by Sofina, with participation from Peak XV Partners and existing investors including Accel, Balderton, ICONIQ, Tencent and Speedinvest.
Founded in 2020 by Gabriel Le Roux and Paul Anthony, Primer offers a unified platform that enables businesses to manage payments, fraud, reconciliation and financial operations through a single interface. The company aims to solve a major industry challenge—fragmented payment data across multiple systems—which often limits the effectiveness of artificial intelligence.
“In the next few years, every payment decision in a large business will be initiated, optimized or audited by AI. That shift is already underway,” said Gabriel Le Roux, CEO and Co-founder of Primer. “The question is whether the data those systems run on is complete because when you deploy agents across fragmented data, they don’t just underperform, they make the wrong decision. That’s why the next era of payments can only be built on complete, contextual intelligence. And that’s what Primer delivers.”
Primer’s platform captures over 400 data points per transaction and provides businesses with a comprehensive view of payment flows. This unified data layer is intended to help companies make faster and more accurate decisions while improving performance.
The new funding will be used to expand Primer’s AI capabilities, particularly its AI agent, Primer Companion, which assists merchants in analysing payment data and generating insights. The company plans to further develop the tool so it can autonomously optimise payment processes within defined parameters.
“We don’t want merchants chasing problems or missing opportunities. With full context across every payment, Primer Companion can act on their behalf, knowing what’s happening, why, and what to do next,” Le Roux added.
Primer is also focusing on expanding its presence in the US, which currently contributes around one-fifth of its revenue. The company plans to grow this share to more than one-third by 2028 as it scales operations in the region.
Primer, a London-based payments infrastructure startup, has raised USD 100 million in a Series C funding round led by Sofina, with participation from Peak XV Partners and existing investors including Accel, Balderton, ICONIQ, Tencent and Speedinvest.
Founded in 2020 by Gabriel Le Roux and Paul Anthony, Primer offers a unified platform that enables businesses to manage payments, fraud, reconciliation and financial operations through a single interface. The company aims to solve a major industry challenge—fragmented payment data across multiple systems—which often limits the effectiveness of artificial intelligence.
“In the next few years, every payment decision in a large business will be initiated, optimized or audited by AI. That shift is already underway,” said Gabriel Le Roux, CEO and Co-founder of Primer. “The question is whether the data those systems run on is complete because when you deploy agents across fragmented data, they don’t just underperform, they make the wrong decision. That’s why the next era of payments can only be built on complete, contextual intelligence. And that’s what Primer delivers.”
Entrepreneur Staff • Editor
Entrepreneur Staff
For more than 30 years, Entrepreneur has set the course for success for millions of... Read more
