March 24 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian payments management platform Payhawk is contemplating an initial public offering (IPO) after it reached a valuation of $1 billion (910.9 million euro) earlier this month, becoming the country's first unicorn, local media reported.
"The public offering is a very sustainable option because the company has the opportunity to develop its great potential following its own strategy. Acquisitions and mergers lead to loss of focus and a change in strategy," Capital weekly quoted Hristo Borissov, co-founder of Payhawk, as saying on Wednesday.
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Payhawk plans to double its headcount to some 320 people by the end of 2022 and open offices abroad, possibly in Amsterdam, Paris, and New York.
Payhawk provides its services to clients in 30 countries and has offices in six countries.
Earlier this month, Payhawk reached a valuation of 1 billion dollars, after completing an extended fund-raiser led by US investment firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. Payhawk raised $100 million in the follow-up to a Series B round, which was first unveiled in November 2021, it said in a statement at the time. The company has now nearly doubled its then valuation of $570 million.
The most recent transaction comes on the heels of Payhawk's 20 million dollar Series A round completed in April 2021.
Founded in 2018, Payhawk has developed a subscription-based, enterprise-grade software that combines expense management, payments and invoice management in a single platform, reducing manual work required by finance teams.
($ = 0.9110 euro)