Primer, a London-based payments infrastructure startup, raised $100 million in Series C funding to push its AI-powered payments platform into mainstream merchant operations. Led by Sofina with backing from Peak XV Partners and existing investors Balderton, Accel, ICONIQ, Tencent and Speedinvest, the round reflects growing appetite for AI-driven fintech infrastructure.

Founded in 2020 by ex-PayPal employees, Primer connects e-commerce merchants with multiple payment providers — Checkout.com, Stripe, WorldPay, Klarna and GoCardless — through a single platform. Its AI agent, Primer Companion, launched in November and can recommend changes and implement them autonomously, a capability the company plans to expand with the new capital.

CEO Gabriel Le Roux predicts AI will initiate, optimise or audit every payment decision at large businesses. Primer will deploy the funding to boost its US presence, targeting over a third of revenue from there by 2028 and hiring up to 50 roles across the country.