Paddle, a leading Merchant of Record serving digital product companies, announced today it has raised $25 million in funding from CIBC Innovation Banking. The new capital will support Paddle’s international growth, product development, and expansion into new markets amid shifting conditions in the app and subscription landscape.

The funding follows a year of strong performance for Paddle, including 40% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also announced a new U.S. office in Austin, Texas, adding to its presence in London, Lisbon, New York, and Toronto. Additionally, Paddle has strengthened its leadership team with key executive hires: Rich Mason (formerly of Shopify) as Chief Revenue Officer, Stephen Wilcock (former CTO of Bloom & Wild) as Chief Technology Officer, and Ben Aronsten (previously at Shopify and Intercom) as Chief Marketing Officer.

Paddle’s momentum is closely linked to regulatory changes in the U.S. and EU, where Apple has begun loosening its restrictions on in-app payment systems. These changes have opened new opportunities for digital product companies to monetize directly on the web, bypassing traditional app store fees and limitations. Paddle is well-positioned to support this shift with its infrastructure and integrations.

As a Merchant of Record, Paddle takes on the responsibility for managing payments, global tax compliance, fraud prevention, and refunds on behalf of digital sellers. This allows companies to replace a patchwork of payment providers and tools with a single solution, streamlining operations and accelerating international expansion. Paddle currently supports more than 6,000 companies in SaaS, AI, and consumer app markets.

Recent partnerships with developer platforms RevenueCat and Vercel have further extended Paddle’s capabilities, making it easier for subscription businesses to manage billing across platforms and optimize monetization on the web. These moves align with growing interest in owning the customer relationship and reducing reliance on mobile platforms.

“We are seeing a huge increase in the number of consumer app businesses choosing Paddle to manage their web monetization,” said Jimmy Fitzgerald, CEO of Paddle. “We only win when those we serve win, and the growth we’re seeing across the market reflects that shared success.”

With this latest funding round, Paddle has raised more than $318 million in total financing, including prior equity investments from FTV Capital, KKR, 83North, and Notion Capital.

INSIDER TAKE

Paddle’s $25 million raise is part of a broader story unfolding in the subscription economy: the growing demand for operational simplification, platform independence, and international scalability.

What subscription executives should know:

✔ The Merchant of Record model is gaining traction. For companies expanding globally, managing taxes, compliance, and payment systems across multiple countries is a major challenge. Paddle’s MoR approach allows businesses to offload that complexity while maintaining full visibility into performance and customer metrics.

✔ Web monetization is back in the spotlight. Apple’s new policies, which allow links to external payment pages in the U.S. and EU, are triggering a wave of interest in alternative billing methods. Paddle’s strategy to meet developers where they are—with tools built for flexibility—puts them in a strong position to lead this shift.

✔ The executive team signals enterprise focus. With new leaders from Shopify and Intercom, Paddle is reinforcing its move upmarket. These hires bring experience in scaling global operations and building infrastructure for high-growth subscription companies.

✔ A different kind of raise. This is a debt facility, not a traditional venture round. That suggests Paddle has the revenue predictability and financial discipline to borrow instead of diluting equity. It’s a signal of operational maturity that many in the subscription industry will recognize as a mark of stability.

As subscription businesses seek to future-proof their monetization strategies, Paddle’s expansion and product roadmap point to an evolving role, not just as a payments provider, but as a core operating layer for global recurring revenue businesses.