Shortcut Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures, b-to-v Partners and technology investor Klaus Hommels are coming together to back SumUp with $20 million of development capital.

Berlin and London-based SumUp provides a free app and card reader (connected to a smartphone headphone jack) which allows users to turn mobile devices into tills capable of processing payments.

Following a four-month trial period the service has now been launched in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Austria.

SumUp’s technology works by providing the tools needed to complete payment transactions free of charge to merchants, and then takes a 2.75 per cent cut of every transaction made.

According to SumUp, the number of credit and debit card transactions is growing by 38 per cent year-on-year, and the company will now be looking to target the 1.5 million small businesses it estimates operate in the UK.

Daniel Klein, CEO of SumUp, ‘We have founded SumUp to provide a secure solution that solves a real problem for small merchants by harnessing the boom in smartphone technology.

‘We have grown to a company of over 100 people, and will be using our subsequent investment by our experienced partners to take SumUp to further regions in the months ahead.’