Italy: EIB invests €70 million in Scalapay to accelerate technological innovation in Europe

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.

• This is the first time that the EIB has provided scale-up debt financing to an Italian unicorn company.
• The main investments contribute to reinforce Scalapay’s development activities in the Buy Now, Pay Later.
• The operation is backed by InvestEU and is in line with TechEU, the EIB Group’s initiative aiming to mobilise €250 billion over the next three years to boost innovation in Europe.
• Scalapay is among Europe’s leading players in the Buy Now, Pay Later sector, enabling its customers to make payments immediately or in instalments, both online and in-store.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a €70 million Scale-Up Debt financing agreement with Scalapay, an Italian fintech founded in 2019 and now among Europe’s leading players in the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) sector.

The announcement was signed in Milan by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and Scalapay CEO Simone Mancini. It is the first time that the EIB has provided direct financing to an Italian unicorn company.

The EIB funds will help bolster Scalapay’s range of payment sector products and services, making the end-user experience simpler and more comprehensive. These investments will enable Scalapay to continue consolidating its position as a European leader in smart financial solutions and interactive services.

“This EIB financing will strengthen the European digital payment ecosystem, backing a company that has grown rapidly with a focus on technology, security and service quality,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti. “Our TechEU investment programme aims to support the most innovative companies at every stage of their development: from the initial idea to stock exchange listing and beyond. This will foster innovation and competitiveness, ensuring that our tech champions can grow and stay in Europe.”

“We are delighted to announce this agreement,” said Scalapay CEO Simone Mancini.“In addition to underlining the EIB’s trust in our company, the financing will enable us to further accelerate the growth of Scalapay, broaden our product range and better support the development of the markets where we operate. It is another step forward for the company. For our customers, it means more products and better flexibility to meet their needs.”

The agreement between the EIB and Scalapay involves €70 million in Scale-Up Debt financing – a financial instrument developed under TechEU, the EIB Group’s investment programme designed to boost innovation and strengthen Europe’s technological leadership. TechEU aims to invest €70 billion in equity, quasi-equity, loans and guarantees over the 2025–2027 period, with the goal of mobilising €250 billion in real-economy investments. Through Scale-Up Debt, the EIB supports highly innovative companies during their pre-IPO growth phase without diluting founders’ or private investors’ ownership. The operation also benefits from the support of the European Union through the InvestEU programme, for which the EIB Group is the main implementing partner.

Background information

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight key priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world.  The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security. The EIB Group signed 99 operations totalling €10.98 billion in Italy in 2024, unlocking almost €37 billion of investment in the real economy. All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment. Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the funds made available by the Group unlocked over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised a further €110 billion for startups and scale-ups. Around half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.

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The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps to crowd in private investment for the European Union’s strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Scalapay is the leading buy now, pay later platform in southern Europe, transforming the way over 11 million users shop online and in-store by allowing them to make interest-free instalment purchases. Its mission is to enable its more than 10 000 partner brands to offer their customers a fast and frictionless shopping experience. Brands like Douglas, Lastminute.com, OVS Group, Alpitour, Veralab, JD Sport and more have already chosen Scalapay as their buy now, pay later provider. For more information, visit: www.scalapay.com