Bulgarian paperless expense management provider Payhawk said it raised $20mn in a Series A financing round led by US-based venture capital firm QED Investors. Existing investor Earlybird Digital East also contributed fresh capital.

The funds raised will enable the company to further expand its product portfolio and hire more people.

"The company will expand coverage for businesses outside the EU and UK; add new payment products including credit cards; and support additional currencies with industry leading FX rates," the company said in a press release on its website.

Payhawk will also focus on streamlining the cash flow from existing bank accounts to Payhawk to provide unlimited spending capabilities for finance teams. It will also accelerate its use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, in order to introduce smart workflows, and to reduce the need for manual review and approval.

The company said it plans to triple its marketing and sales team this year to back its expansion plans in the UK, Germany and Spain.

"Over the next year, we are keen to provide great support to finance teams across more than 30 countries to manage company cards, invoices and payments in a unified and efficient way. We plan to significantly expand our integrations to existing ERP systems, and also easily connect on top of every business bank account across Europe and beyond," Payhawk’s founder and CEO, Hristo Borisov, said in the press release.

In March 2020, Payhawk raised €3mn in a seed funding round led by Earlybird Venture Capital, with participation from Eleven Ventures and existing angel investors.

The company said it posted tenfold growth in 2020, and doubled its revenue in Q1 2021, but provided no figures. Its customer base consists of a mix of fast-growing and multinational companies including LuxAir, Lotto24, Viking Life, ATU, Gtmhub, Flink, MacPaw and By Miles.