Q&A: Malte Huffmann, co-founder & co-CEO, Mondu
Malte Huffmann is the co-founder and co-CEO of Mondu, a B2B payments company revolutionizing how businesses pay and get paid.
A serial entrepreneur with a business administration background, Huffmann previously co-founded Dafiti, Latin America’s leading online fashion platform which successfully went public in 2019. Before that, he co-founded MyBrands, an e-commerce company acquired by Zalando in 2010.
Founded in 2021, Mondu provides payment solutions specifically for B2B transactions, enabling merchants and marketplaces to offer flexible payment terms to business customers across online and offline channels. With offices in Berlin, Amsterdam, and London, Mondu has raised over €145 million from leading investors and serves businesses across Europe. Mondu holds an e-Money Institute (EMI) license from the Dutch National Bank (DNB) and is registered with the FCA in the UK.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Never Miss a Retail Update!I have been working as an entrepreneur in the technology industry over the last 15 years. My co-founder Philipp Povel partnered up back in 2010. Our first venture was MyBrands, an online fashion outlet that we founded in Germany and later sold to Zalando in 2010. Following that success, we moved to Latin America to build Dafiti, which grew to become Latin America’s leading online fashion and lifestyle platform. In 2019, Dafiti went public via Global Fashion Group on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Throughout our e-commerce journey, we saw how crucial payment solutions were for business growth, even creating our own payment methods for specific markets, like introducing cash on delivery in Colombia. This deep understanding of eCommerce customers needs led us to found Mondu in 2021, our third venture together, to revolutionize B2B payments.
What does your company do? / What is your USP?
Mondu is driving innovation in B2B payments, aiming to bring them up to par with B2C standards. Our core product is a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solution designed specifically for B2B. We enable merchants and marketplaces to offer their business customers the most popular B2B payment methods and flexible payment terms, both online and offline. What makes us unique is our comprehensive approach and pan-European presence.
We’re the only European B2B BNPL provider with our own e-money license, allowing us to operate seamlessly across the EU. Our solution stands out for its industry-leading approval rates with real-time decisions for purchases, the most comprehensive range of payment options, from 30-90 day invoices to flexible installments and our Digital Trade Account, and our vision to digitize the entire B2B payment process.
What’s special about the platform and your approach?
Our platform puts customers at the heart of the payment flow, ensuring a seamless, modern, state-of-the-art experience. B2B payments have traditionally been complex and manual, which creates friction in the buying process. Our approach is built on three pillars:
First, wanted to be in control of the customer experience end to end, which meant we also want to determine approval rates. That is why we ’ve built our risk capabilities in-house, enabling approval rates over 90% while maintaining strong risk management.
Second, our solution works across all sales channels, online, field sales, telesales, meeting the rising expectations of Millennial B2B buyers for seamless, flexible payment experiences – wherever they shop.
Third, we’ve designed our solution for easy, minimal integration, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes and leading to rapid adoption across diverse industries. We also have partnerships with PSPs like Stripe which means that their users can enable Mondu as a payment method in the merchant center.
What advantage does it add?
Our solution creates a win-win for merchants and their business customers.
By offering flexible payment options to buyers via Mondu, merchants and marketplaces see an increase in revenue. We have seen conversion rates increase by 21% and average order values grow by 25%. We eliminate default risk by paying them upfront after goods or services are delivered, while we handle payment collection from buyers. This provides stable cash flow and removes a significant operational burden.
For business buyers, we increase purchasing power and provide better control over cash flow, which is especially valuable in today’s environment of high inflation and rising interest rates.
Ultimately, we build trust between sellers and buyers, enabling both to focus on growing their businesses rather than worrying about payment risks.
What does a product/service implementation actually look like and how do you measure success?
Implementing Mondu is designed to be straightforward and efficient. For e-commerce, we integrate with popular eCommerce platforms and PSPs as well as offer APIs for custom implementations. For offline channels like field sales or telesales, our MonduSell solution requires no technical integration – sales teams simply enter order details and customer data into our system and receive real-time approval.
The process involves understanding the merchant’s needs, setting up the integration (which can take just a few days), training the team, and going live with ongoing support. We measure success by a set of KPIs ranging from approval rates, conversation rate improvement to operational efficiency gains.
A successful implementation means merchants can offer flexible payment terms to all business customers without additional risk, while buyers enjoy a seamless payment experience.
How are retailers using your systems to gain competitive advantage and what does best practice look like? Can you share a case study with us?
Retailers use Mondu to gain a competitive edge by offering the payment flexibility that business buyers now expect. In the UK, businesses are using our solutions to differentiate themselves in a market where cash flow management is increasingly critical. Best practice involves implementing Mondu across all sales channels, highlighting payment options early in the buying journey, and using flexible payment terms as a marketing tool.
For example, Kingspan Water & Energy UK, which specializes in sustainable water management solutions, implemented Mondu to enhance customer experience and streamline payment processes. Before Mondu, Kingspan’s customers faced a lengthy credit application process, creating friction for urgent purchases. With Mondu, Kingspan now offers instant credit decisions and up to 90-day payment terms, eliminating waiting times and reducing admin burdens.
As a result, Kingspan has seen higher conversion rates and increased customer satisfaction – their Finance Director noted Mondu “helped us provide a better service to our customers.”
Are there other companies you partner with?
Yes, partnerships are a central pillar of our growth strategy. We’ve built a robust ecosystem across several categories. We partner with platforms like Shopware, Shopify, and WooCommerce, and PSPs like Stripe and Mangopay – making it easy for merchants to implement our BNPL solution.
We also collaborate with B2B e-commerce solutions like Sana Commerce and Spryker, which are valuable for manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors. For custom implementations, we work with system integrators and agencies such as PHOENIX MEDIA, diva-e, and Turbine Kreuzberg.
What challenges and opportunities do you see in UK retail for 2025?
B2B e-commerce will undergo significant evolution as Millennials and Gen Z, who expect digital-first experiences, comprise an even larger share of B2B buyers. These demographics demand the same seamless payment experiences in their professional purchasing as they enjoy in their personal lives.
Embedded finance represents perhaps the greatest opportunity, with payment and financing options becoming deeply integrated into business software platforms. This integration will create more seamless buying experiences and open new revenue streams for forward-thinking retailers.
The UK’s strong tradition of innovation in financial services and retail technology positions it well to lead these trends. With its vibrant SME sector and sophisticated financial ecosystem, the UK market is primed for the adoption of flexible B2B payment solutions that address these evolving challenges while creating competitive advantages for retailers who embrace them.
How will you address these challenges and turn them into successes?
To address the evolving B2B landscape, we’re focused on creating consumer-grade payment experiences for business transactions and responding to the UK’s economic pressures. Our BNPL solution is especially valuable in today’s high-inflation, high-interest environment. Having operated in high-inflation markets like Brazil and Argentina, we know how attractive flexible payment terms become during economic stress.
We’re making Mondu accessible across all sales channels so customers get a consistent payment experience whether they buy online or offline. For embedded finance, we’re expanding our API-first approach and deepening integrations with business software platforms. Our decision engine connects to multiple data providers, ensuring high approval rates even in tough conditions, while maintaining strong risk management.
UK businesses which used to offer trade credit in-house or rely on trade credit insurance to meet buyers’ demands for flexible payments, can now offer such terms without risk or operational burden by working with Mondu.
We enable them to meet the demands of next-generation B2B buyers, and translate it to business growth.
What is on the horizon for you as a company?
We have ambitious plans to become a multi-country and multi-product company in the coming years. There’s a huge opportunity across many geographies, and we want to increase our footprint to capture this market potential and better serve our international-minded merchants.
Additionally, we want to serve B2B buyers directly, and help them take control of their payment schedules and finances. Thanks to our EMI license, we will be launching Mondu Card and eWallet that will give trade customers the control they need in supplier payments.
Any final thoughts?
The B2B payments landscape is at a turning point. While B2C e-commerce has long offered smooth payment processes, B2B has lagged behind, creating a huge opportunity for innovation.
At Mondu, we’re excited about the positive impact we can have by bridging the gap between the demand for deferred payments by business buyers and the limited options currently available. We’re helping businesses with solutions for working capital, supporting the digital transformation of B2B trade, and enabling more growth.
For UK retailers, those who adopt modern, flexible payment solutions will gain a significant competitive advantage. Offering seamless payment experiences across all channels will be a key differentiator for attracting and retaining business customers. We’re committed to rapid innovation and expansion to serve more businesses across Europe, including the UK, and believe that by putting customers at the heart of the payment flow, we can turn payment from a friction point into a growth opportunity.
