Pay-later startups spot a road to riches in B2B

When ‘buy now, pay later’ burst onto the scene in 2019-20, the product was tipped to change how young shoppers paid for stuff and sideline credit cards. Some global BNPL startups notched supersized valuations as their ‘interest-free’ offerings took off.

But that was then. These companies took a hammering in 2022 as the tech sentiment soured, consumers started seeing late charges and regulators stepped in. In India, some players were bought out in bargain deals, whereas a few others scrambled to adapt to the new digital-lending rules.

While the challenges did not completely stall the BNPL segment’s progress, they complicated the path to fast growth that everyone had become accustomed to. Now, a clutch of fintechs may have found a way to make things interesting again.

Instead of solving for consumer purchases, they offer pay-later options for business-to-business dealings. Essentially, it’s a form of supply-chain financing aimed at small vendors and retailers.