Fintech

Another 12 million for Klearly to land in Italy and Belgium

Italian Founders Fund and PayPal Ventures support the development of a digital payments platform for bars and restaurants

13 January 2026

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Klearly, the payments platform designed specifically for restaurants, bars and clubs, announced a Series A round of €12m. The deal brings the total funding to 20 million, allowing the company to accelerate its internationalisation starting with the landing in Italy and Belgium, thus consolidating its role as the payment system of reference for restaurants in Europe.

Italian Founders Fund, the fund set up to bring together Italy's most digital entrepreneurs, is participating in the round led by PayPal Ventures, the venture capital arm of PayPal, a leading international player in the payments industry. Existing investors Global PayTech Ventures, Antler Elevate and Shapers are also following the operation.

Based in Amsterdam, Klearly has been very well received in the Netherlands - where, in the last two years alone, more than 4,000 establishments have introduced its payment system - and is now ready to double its expansion by landing in Italy and Belgium to increase its presence with major restaurant groups and POS partners.

Despite the competitive payment market, restaurants still lack a payment system tailored to them, forcing operators to use generic and outdated payment configurations, especially during peak service times. Klearly fills this gap with a payment system specifically designed for the HO.RE.CA. sector, engineered for speed and reliability in high-traffic environments. Integrating seamlessly with restaurant POS systems, Klearly helps operators offer a smoother service, increase revenue per customer and improve customer loyalty.

Klearly can also be implemented as a powerful stand-alone payment system.

Sam Koekoek, CEO of Klearly, comments: "Klearly's mission is very clear: we want to build the best payment system for the European market dedicated to restaurants, bars and clubs". On the other hand, adds, Ashish Aggarwal, Partner at PayPal Ventures, "the HO.RE.CA. sector remains one of the largest, but also one of the least integrated, payment categories in Europe. A gap that can be bridged by Klearly. On which Italian Founders Fund has also decided to bet. For a specific reason: "The success achieved by Klearly in the Netherlands is a strong signal: restaurants want payments that fit the reality of the service, not generic configurations," commented Lorenzo Franzi, partner of the Italian Founders Fund. "With over 300,000 restaurants, Italy is one of the largest restaurant markets in Europe, which makes it a natural choice for the next step.