Irish marketplace transaction platform Trustap has raised  $5.5 million Series A, bringing the company’s funding to over $9 million. 

The platform enables marketplaces to run their transactions from end-to-end by becoming the merchant of record and managing payments, logistics and customer support on their behalf, significantly increasing margins and overall revenues. This includes escrow-style payment, which helps buyers and sellers transact in full trust on the platforms. 

Trustap has partnerships in 27 countries. The products bought and sold on these marketplaces vary from smaller-value items like electronics and tickets to larger-value items like vehicles and luxury goods. Users of these platforms can pay and ship to each other securely.

In the past week, the company closed a multi-market deal with a clothing marketplace, adding five more Central Eastern European countries to its tally. 

TX Ventures led the funding. Co-investors in the round include SeedX, Partners Resolute, Aperture and existing shareholders MiddleGame Ventures, ACT VC, Atlantic Bridge and FurthrVC. 

According to Trustap CEO Conor Lyden:

“We plan to invest in our GTM to ensure we make the most of some of the recent partnerships we have established. We’ll also look at adding further product features to cater for the wide range of use cases we deal with across both C2C and B2B marketplaces.” 

Krzysztof Bialkowski, Managing Partner of TX Ventures, comments: 

“Our view is that within the near-mid term, marketplaces will have to offer trusted payment solutions; otherwise, they will miss out on new business. 

Trustap offers just that by providing escrow-like payment options and lifting the operational burden off the shoulders of marketplaces.

The product is immensely scalable, proven by the global presence of clients and the numerous categories Trustap facilitates among buyers and sellers.”

The company’s initial focus is on continuing to partner with the marketplaces that have the biggest market share in its supported geographies whilst aiming to cater for the longer tail of the market in the medium term. 

Lead image: Trustap CEO Conor Lyden. Photo: uncredited.