Simone Mancini & Johnny Mitrevski: Eliminatnig Checkout Friction With Fintech Innovation

Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski turned Scalapay into a multi billion dollar company valued through vision, timing, and relentless execution. The company was founded in 2019, the duo met in Australia while working at Prospa and Commonwealth Bank, spotting a gap in Europe’s BNPL market. Mancini, an entrepreneurial tinkerer with a knack for spotting consumer pain points, and Mitrevski, a tech-savvy strategist, launched Scalapay in Italy, bypassing Australia’s crowded BNPL scene for Europe’s untapped potential, and quickly established a strong foothold in the fashion and luxury sectors by offering interest-free installment payments, which resonated with both merchants and consumers.

Their breakthrough came with a simple yet powerful idea with interest-free installment payments to ease checkout friction. Targeting Southern Europe’s fashion and luxury sectors, they also tailored Scalapay to merchants and boosting the sales with no upfront cost to buyers. The timing was impeccable COVID-19 accelerated e-commerce, and Scalapay’s platform, already in beta, scaled fast. From a $48 million seed round in 2021 they raised $155 million in a Series A, hitting a $1 billion valuation in just two years. By 2022, a $497 million Series B, led by Tencent and Tiger Global, cemented its unicorn status, totaling $700 million raised.

Mancini’s customer-first ethos and Mitrevski’s tech leadership fueled growth. They expanded to nine countries and signed 3,000+ merchants. Scalapay launched “Magic”, a frictionless checkout tool with driving conversions up 10-40%. Hiring aggressively doubling staff yearly and securing Milan Fashion Week sponsorships amplified their brand. Scalapay’s valuation later soared past $1 billion across currencies with a testament to their global ambition and Aussie grit, proving a Wollongong-born idea could conquer Europe’s fintech frontier.