Limepay adds seven new senior hires as gears up for IPO

Buy-now-pay-later fintech Limepay is progressing on its way to listing on the Australian Securities Exchange by using some of the almost $30 million it has raised over the past 12 months to add a series of high-profile hires to its team. 

Limepay offers businesses a white-label payments platform, including buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) functionality, that can be fully integrated with their brands.

The startup closed a $21 million pre-IPO funding round in December, adding to a $6 million raise in May 2020, and is eyeing off an ASX listing in the second half of the year. 

Newly appointed chief financial officer Mark Ledsham will oversee the expected listing, and is one of seven new senior hires to recently join the Limepay team.

Ledsham is outgoing CEO of XE.com and the former chief financial officer for Oz Forex. He has also previously worked at Deloitte. 

Willie Pang, former Yahoo managing director and CEO at MediaCom Australia, has joined the Limepay board as an independent non-executive director, and Katie Johnston, previously of King & Wood Mallesons and The Fold Legal, has been appointed as general counsel and company secretary. 

The growing startup has also made key appointments across its technology, marketing and people areas. 

Andy Britz took up the mantle of chief technology officer at the end of last year, while former Zip Co executive Claire Alexander will oversee people and culture. 

Former PayPal and Westpac marketing executive Jessica Turnbull has been appointed as head of marketing and Eric Tsang will be the company’s head of partnerships. Tsang previously worked at Westpac, NAB and Amex. 

Limepay co-founder and chief executive Tim Dwyer said in a statement the fintech is using a portion of its recently raised funds to “build a seriously high-powered team with a long track record of scaling finance and tech companies”.

“With these new additions, we are extremely confident about the team we have driving our pathway to a potential ASX listing.”

Limepay also confirmed to SmartCompany that it is looking to build out its team beyond these senior positions and expects to welcome “many more to our ranks in the coming months, including potentially a new chairperson for the board”.

The appointments follows a bumper year for Limepay, and the wider BNPL space.

While the likes of Afterpay and Zip Pay have continued to strengthen their positions in the market, newer entrants have also been making their presence felt, including newcomers such as Beforepay and international operators like Klarna.

In December, chief revenue officer Dan Peter said Limepay was recording quarter-on-quarter growth of about 250%, with underlying merchant sales at $95 million, on a seven-day annualised run-rate.

Limepay has more than 120 merchants using its platform, including Accor, EB Games, Domain and Puma, and Dwyer says the fintech is working towards setting up its New Zealand operations “imminently”.

“We are absolutely exploring our overseas reach, where many of our great brands have a global presence,” he told SmartCompany.

“The goals has always been for the brand experience to resonate over third-party payment options, especially now with the greatest focus in history towards online.”