Ampla Acquires Upside and Plans B2B BNPL Product

FinTech platform Ampla Technologies has acquired extended payment terms firm Upside Financing and will launch a new B2B buy now, pay later (BNPL) product called Ampla Pay Later. 

Building on Upside Financing’s existing product, Ampla Pay Later will extend payment terms for brands and will be integrated into Ampla’s broader financial solutions platform, which offers consumer brands access to digital banking and working capital solutions, Ampla said Tuesday (Nov. 1) in a press release. 

“The acquisition of Upside and the formation of Ampla Pay Later will provide brands with another lending option alongside our Growth Line of Credit that extends their runway and allows them to free up cash to grow,” Ampla Technologies Founder and CEO Anthony Santomo said in the release. 

With Ampla Pay Later, consumer brands will upload invoices from their manufacturers, Ampla Pay Later will pay the manufacturers on their behalf and then the brands will make payments back on extended terms that typically range from 30 to 120 days, according to the press release. 

This option will help brands manage their biggest cash drain — inventory — which typically ties up 40% of their capital, the release stated. 

“Despite significantly fewer deals getting done in the current macro environment, Ampla has decided to double down on its support of emerging consumer brands with its acquisition of Upside,” Santomo said in the release. 

Upside CEO Nicholas Mares will join Ampla and will help manage the Ampla Pay Later line of business, according to the release. 

“We’ve been serving the B2B buy now, pay later market for the last 18 months, and are proud of the momentum we’ve built in the space,” Mares said in the release. “Joining Ampla will help this product reach even more customers as well as give existing customers access to a broader suite of financial tools to manage and grow their business.” 

While credit for consumers expanded during the pandemic, the B2B space has not yet seen the same magnitude of growth, Santomo told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview posted in January. 

Read more: D2C Brands Working Capital Alternatives Not Just for Startups Anymore 

“There’s a few companies out there making some noise and we appreciate and are grateful for them,” Santomo said at the time, “but there’s a lot more room to grow in the B2B space.”