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Irish tech unicorn Wayflyer, which clocked a $1.6 billion valuation on its recent $150 million Series B capital raise, has hired its new head of sales for the U.S. away from Atlanta-born fintech company Now.
Rebecca Weizenecker has deep experience in Atlanta’s fintech community, having previously worked for Kabbage, another Atlanta-born fintech startup focused on providing loans for businesses that was purchased by American Express.
Now, Ms. Weizenecker’s previous employer — founded by Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson — provides receivables financing to help companies bridge the gap between invoicing and payment. Ms. Weizenecker also worked with Sequr and Fundthrough.
Wayflyer’s platform, meanwhile, helps fast-growing e-commerce companies better manage cash flow while driving sales. Rather than imposing interest, WayFlyer charges fees deducted from future revenues, so it only gets paid when the merchant drives more orders.
The company announced last year that Atlanta would be a key hub for the United States after a previous $76 million investment round, saying it planned to hire for 50 jobs here by the end of 2021.
So far, it has hired 30, and more than 50 roles are still available in the analytics, finance and customer-support functions across the company. In a short time in-market, the European-born startup has grown to the point that more than half of its 1,000-plus customers are in the U.S.
To fuel further growth, Ms. Weizenecker is tasked with hiring another 100 sales professionals by the end of this year, and she’s focusing heavily on ensuring diversity across the team in Atlanta and beyond. See 11 open positions in Atlanta
“The opportunity to join Wayflyer at such a pivotal point in the company’s growth was too good to pass up. The U.S. is the second largest e-commerce market in the world and Atlanta is one of the fastest growing fintech hubs in the country, so the opportunity is huge,” Ms. Weizenecker said in a news release.
WayFlyer has provided $400 million in funding to U.S.-based e-commerce businesses, raised $236 million in capital and hired more than 250 people across five offices in Dublin, Atlanta, New York, London and Sydney.