Payment network provider Satispay has become Italy's second unicorn as the country surpasses last year's record for VC capital raised.

The Milan-based company's €320 million (about $311 million) Series D, which values it at more than €1 billion, was led by US-based investor Addition. Other participants included Greyhound Capital, Lightrock, Tencent and Coatue.

Founded in 2013, Satispay's platform allows customers to pay in-store and online with smartphones, tablets and PCs. It currently has 3 million customers and is used by more than 200,000 merchants across Italy, Germany, Luxembourg and France.

Italy's economy is the fourth largest in Europe, but its VC ecosystem has historically trailed behind peers like Spain and France. With the global economic downturn, many European countries are falling short of last year's peak, but Italy has already broken its previous record for VC capital invested.  

A handful of mega-rounds are driving activity in 2022 as more capital is raised across fewer deals. This year, VCs have invested €1.8 billion across 206 deals, according to PitchBook data. By contrast, last year saw €1.1 billion invested across 288 deals.

Both of Italy's largest deals were for fintech companies. Aside from Satispay's Series D, Italy's other unicorn, buy now, pay later provider Scalapay, closed a $497 million Series B led by Tencent and Willoughby Capital. Other notable deals in the country include proptech startup Casavo's €400 million Exor-led round in July.

Featured image courtesy of Satispay

This article originally appeared on PitchBook News