Financial operations platform Ramp has announced its acquisition of Stockholm and London-based payments firm Billhop. This strategic move is set to significantly bolster Ramp’s presence in the UK and European markets, enabling direct onboarding of businesses in these regions starting this summer. The acquisition also marks the establishment of Ramp’s first international offices in London and Stockholm, signaling a major step in its global expansion strategy.
Ramp, a leading financial operations platform, has acquired Billhop, a payments platform licensed in the UK and Sweden. This acquisition is designed to enhance Ramp’s support for businesses operating in the UK and Europe. Nearly half of Ramp’s existing customers already conduct international transactions across over 180 countries weekly. With Billhop’s licensed platform and established regional presence, Ramp is poised to deepen its capabilities and offer direct services to companies headquartered in the UK and EU.
Starting this summer, companies based in the UK and EU will be able to use Ramp directly for the first time. While thousands of U.S. businesses currently leverage Ramp for managing spend and payments across Europe, this acquisition opens the door for direct onboarding of European entities. Ramp plans to significantly expand its European team in the coming months, with a particular focus on doubling its UK team within the next year.
Billhop, founded in 2012, is a licensed payments infrastructure provider operating across the EEA and the UK. Its core function is to help businesses optimize working capital and streamline vendor payments by enabling invoice payments via card, even for suppliers who do not typically accept card payments. This capability is crucial for addressing the fragmented B2B payment infrastructure in Europe and bridging the gap between card-accepting buyers and non-card-accepting suppliers.
The acquisition occurs at a significant time in the corporate spend management market, with Ramp’s U.S. rival Brex undergoing acquisition by Capital One. This positions Ramp as a dominant independent player in the U.S. market, now looking to replicate its success in Europe. The company aims to leverage Billhop’s expertise and licenses to navigate the complexities of the European market, including lower corporate card penetration and varied regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions. Ramp anticipates that its European customers will benefit from similar savings and revenue growth seen by its U.S. clientele.