What Zexel does

Zexel operates a creator payouts platform branded as Zexel Pay, positioning itself as the merchant of record between payers (brands, agencies, platforms and marketplaces) and recipients (creators, affiliates, partners). The platform batches hundreds of payouts in any currency and consolidates them into a single, fully compliant invoice, while handling multi-jurisdiction tax (IRPF for Spain, IVA for the EU, DAC7, W9, 1099-K for the US) plus KYC/AML and GDPR on behalf of clients. Funds route to creators in 150+ countries and 30+ currencies through PayPal, Wise, Revolut or local bank transfer, with settlement in T+0 to T+2. A multi-level approval workflow (marketing → finance → ops) and an embeddable API for platforms and SaaS round out the product surface, alongside audience-specific solutions for Brands & Agencies, Platforms, and Creators.

Zexel monetizes through transaction fees on each processed payout and usage-based / integration revenue on its API, with pricing sold via a 'Talk to sales' flow rather than a public price list. The company runs a hybrid GTM: enterprise and mid-market sales-led motion for brands, agencies, platforms and marketplaces, combined with a self-serve creator onboarding flow at pay.zexel.io and an embeddable API for platforms and SaaS that want to offer payouts as a product feature. Named customers include mid-market influencer marketing firms OKZ, Cruwi, Monetizee and Influencity, plus enterprise customer Solana. Marketing is anchored on a bilingual blog, gated downloadable resources (fiscal checklists, ebooks, contract templates), a branded podcast 'Potencia Creativa', SEO landing pages and PR in Spanish startup media.

Zexel is a privately held startup headquartered in Málaga, Spain, with 11-50 employees. The company raised approximately €850,000 in a seed round on 2024-10-18 co-led by Angels (the investment society of Juan Roig, founder of Mercadona), Akka and Encomenda, with capital earmarked for product enhancement, sales expansion and international growth. Zexel Pay v2 launched globally in 150+ countries on 2025-10-21.

Name

Zexel

Legal name

Zexel

Website

https://zexel.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zexel operates Zexel Pay, a merchant-of-record creator payouts platform for brands, agencies, platforms and marketplaces, batching payouts in 30+ currencies to 150+ countries and handling tax compliance and consolidated invoicing for cross-border creator payments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creator Payments Infrastructure

akta.pro primary industry

Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure (FSAGABAE)

Keywords

• Creator payouts
• Merchant of record
• Influencer payments
• Cross-border payouts
• Payment compliance platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Málaga

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Merchant of record transaction fees: Zexel charges as the merchant of record processing batched creator payouts for brands, agencies, platforms and marketplaces. Revenue is generated per payout / per batch across 150+ countries and 30+ currencies, with T+0 to T+2 settlement.
2. API / platform integration fees: Platforms and SaaS embed creator payouts via Zexel's API to handle payouts programmatically, generating usage-based / integration revenue on top of each processed payout.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Zexel Pay is a creator-payouts platform that acts as the legal merchant of record between payers (brands, agencies, platforms, marketplaces) and recipients (creators, influencers, affiliates). It batches hundreds of payouts in any currency across 150+ countries and 30+ currencies, consolidates them into a single fully compliant invoice for the payer's finance team, and routes funds via PayPal, Wise, Revolut or local bank transfer with T+0 to T+2 settlement. Zexel automatically handles KYC/AML, GDPR, and multi-jurisdiction tax forms including IRPF, IVA, DAC7, W9 and 1099-K, removing the need for customers to act as fiscal entities.

Product overview

Zexel offers a single unified core product — Zexel Pay — with audience-specific variants (Brands & Agencies, Platforms, Creators) that share the same underlying merchant-of-record infrastructure for global creator payouts. Zexel Pay v2 is the current generation, live in 150+ countries, and acts as a platform on which brands, agencies, and SaaS platforms can run compliant creator payouts via batch uploads, multi-level approvals, and an embeddable API. The product is complemented by free downloadable resources (fiscal checklist, contract template, ebooks) and a blog/podcast content arm for the creator economy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Zexel Pay: Zexel's core product: a creator payouts platform that acts as merchant of record, batching payouts to creators/affiliates, issuing consolidated invoices, and handling tax compliance (IRPF, IVA, DAC7, W9, 1099-K) across 150+ countries and 30+ currencies.

Products and services

• Zexel Pay Zexel's flagship creator payouts platform. Positions Zexel as the merchant of record for the creator economy — invoicing, complying and paying creators on behalf of brands, agencies and platforms. Supports batch payouts in 30+ currencies to 150+ countries with consolidated invoicing and outsourced tax compliance.
• Zexel Pay for Brands & Agencies Audience-specific solution under Zexel Pay targeting brands and agencies. Enables batch payouts to many creators with a single consolidated, fully compliant invoice, a multi-level approval flow between marketing, finance and operations, and zero tax-form handling for the finance team.
• Zexel Pay for Platforms Audience-specific solution under Zexel Pay targeting SaaS platforms and marketplaces. Designed for embedding creator payouts via API so the platform can offer payouts as a feature without itself becoming a fiscal entity.
• Zexel Pay for Creators Recipient-facing solution under Zexel Pay targeting creators, affiliates and partners. Lets them receive legal payments from any brand worldwide without setting up a company or filing taxes, with payouts via PayPal, Wise, Revolut or bank transfer in local currency.

Quantifiable outcome

• Payouts to creators in 150+ countries, in 30+ currencies
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Angels (Juan Roig) Investors DaycoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 21 October 2025Zexel was one of 12 Angels portfolio startups invited to present at Angels' 2025 Investors' Day in Spain before 300+ top-tier investors, gaining visibility within the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem that Angels champions.
• PayPalcoreTechnology or IntegrationPayPal is one of four global payout rails integrated into Zexel Pay, alongside Wise, Revolut and local bank transfer, enabling creators to receive funds in 150+ countries and 30+ currencies.
• WisecoreTechnology or IntegrationWise is integrated as one of Zexel Pay's payout rails, enabling cross-border local-currency transfers to creators in 150+ countries.
• RevolutcoreTechnology or IntegrationRevolut is one of the global payout rails embedded in Zexel Pay, alongside PayPal, Wise and local bank transfer, supporting payouts to creators in 150+ countries.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Tipalti: Tipalti is a global payables automation platform that handles mass payouts to suppliers, freelancers and creators with built-in tax form collection (W-9, W-8BEN, 1099) and multi-currency capabilities, directly overlapping Zexel's merchant-of-record, batched, tax-compliant creator payout use case.
• Tremendous: Tremendous is a payouts platform used by brands and platforms to send money globally to recipients, with built-in tax form collection and a wide choice of payout methods. It targets a very similar use case to Zexel's batch creator payouts.
• Hyperwallet (a PayPal company): Hyperwallet is a mass-payout platform that disburses funds to contractors and creators globally and is integrated into PayPal's broader rails. It directly competes with Zexel on batched cross-border creator payouts with consolidated reporting and tax compliance.
• Payoneer: Payoneer is a cross-border payments platform widely used to pay creators, freelancers and affiliates worldwide in local currency, with built-in invoicing and tax form workflows. Zexel competes with Payoneer's creator-economy payout flows in the same mid-market and SMB segment.
• MassPay: MassPay is a global payouts infrastructure provider focused on paying creators, freelancers and contractors across borders with compliance and tax handling baked in, making it a direct comparable to Zexel's batched, multi-currency creator payout product.

Broad incumbents

• PayPal: PayPal is both a payout rail integrated into Zexel and a broad incumbent that offers direct cross-border payouts, invoicing and 1099-K handling to creators. As a broader incumbent it competes with Zexel on enterprise creator payouts while also powering Zexel's rails.
• Wise Business: Wise Business offers low-cost multi-currency international payouts to recipients globally. While it is also a payout rail inside Zexel Pay, as a standalone product it overlaps with Zexel's creator payments value proposition for cost-sensitive buyers.
• Stripe Connect: Stripe Connect is a large incumbent platform that lets marketplaces and SaaS embed payments and payouts to creators and sellers globally. It is a broader payments suite but overlaps Zexel Pay on platform-embedded creator payouts, and can also serve as a substitute for Zexel's API.

Emerging players

• Veem: Veem is a global B2B payments network that handles cross-border payouts with built-in invoicing, serving freelancers, vendors and creators. It is an emerging alternative in the cross-border creator and freelancer payout space where Zexel operates.
• Trolley: Trolley (formerly Payment Rails) is a payouts platform aimed at marketplaces and platforms paying out creators and gig workers globally with tax form handling. It is an emerging player with strong product overlap to Zexel's platform/SaaS angle.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=F-h7qKuFSxU&list=PL6EFRYbLwniZGslJvHihDEA8XlIQ8x6uN

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zexel