Phos

What Phos does

Phos is a payments software company that developed a phone-agnostic software point-of-sale (SoftPOS) platform and Payments Platform as a Service (PPaaS) technology, enabling merchants to accept card payments on commercial off-the-shelf smartphones and tablets without dedicated hardware terminals. The company was founded in 2018 and headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria (with UK-based operating presence noted in acquisition reporting), and built its core product around software-based payment acceptance — a technically demanding area requiring PCI certification and integration with card networks and acquirers. Pre-acquisition, Phos's technology was positioned as a lower-friction, lower-cost acceptance alternative for small merchants, retailers, and payment service providers seeking to reduce hardware dependency.

The company operated as a private B2B SaaS / platform business, with no publicly disclosed pricing model or per-transaction economics in the source data. Phos raised approximately $1.45 million led by New Vision 3 in March 2020 and roughly $2.35 million from CM.com in August 2021, for cumulative disclosed funding of about $3.8 million. In March 2023, Ingenico Group acquired Phos specifically to fold its SoftPOS / PPaaS capability into Ingenico's broader payments portfolio, integrating Phos's technology with Ingenico's terminal estate, device management, and commerce services offerings. Following the acquisition, Phos operates as a subsidiary within Ingenico's PPaaS division and no longer functions as an independent company; its prior independent customer base, revenue mechanics, and pricing structure are not disclosed in the available source material.

Leadership consisted of CEO Brad Hyett alongside co-founders Ivo Gueorguiev and Valeri Valtchev, with Chris Haincock as COO and Kristiyan Shahinyan as CTO. The team size was 11–50 employees. Geographic focus pre-acquisition was Europe (notably the United Kingdom). No certifications, regulatory licenses, named customers, channel partners, marketing programs, or AI/ML capabilities are disclosed in the available data, so any further characterization of unit economics or competitive positioning beyond the above is not supported by the source material.

Name

Phos

Legal name

Phos

Website

https://phos.cloud

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Phos built phone-agnostic SoftPOS and Payments Platform as a Service (PPaaS) software enabling merchants to accept card payments on commercial mobile devices. Founded 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria, the company was acquired by Ingenico Group in March 2023.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

akta.pro primary industry

mPOS & SoftPOS (Tap-to-Phone) Solutions (FSAMADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

In-Store Contactless & NFC Acceptance (Tap-to-Pay, EMV Contactless) (FSAMADAF), POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure (FSAGABAO), POS Payment Software & Middleware (Terminal OS, Apps, Device Management) (FSAMADAC)

Keywords

• SoftPOS solutions
• Mobile payment acceptance
• Software point of sale
• Contactless payment software
• Payment platform services

Headquarters

HQ city

Sofia

HQ country

Bulgaria

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Core offering

Phos develops phone-agnostic SoftPOS (software point-of-sale) technology that enables merchants to accept card payments on commercial off-the-shelf smartphones and tablets without dedicated hardware payment terminals. The company provides Payments Platform as a Service (PPaaS) capabilities that transform mobile devices into secure contactless payment acceptance points.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SoftPOS
• Payments Platform as a Service (PPaaS)

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ingenico GroupcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2023Ingenico acquired UK-based Phos in March 2023 to strengthen its Payments Platform as a Service (PPaaS) capabilities. The acquisition brought Phos's SoftPOS technology into Ingenico's portfolio, enabling merchants to accept card payments using commercial off-the-shelf mobile devices instead of dedicated hardware terminals.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Block (Square): Block's Square brand spans hardware POS, software POS, and tap-to-pay/SoftPOS acceptance for SMBs. It is a much larger incumbent that overlaps with Phos on smartphone-based payment acceptance.
• Verifone: Verifone is a global POS hardware and payments-software provider that has expanded into SoftPOS and cloud-based acceptance, competing with Phos on integrated in-person payment software.
• Mastercard (Tap on Phone): Mastercard's Tap on Phone program is a direct SoftPOS/tap-to-phone initiative that overlaps with Phos's product category and influences merchant and acquirer adoption dynamics.
• Stripe: Stripe Terminal extends into software-driven and contactless in-person acceptance, including SoftPOS-style flows. It is a broad incumbent payments platform with overlapping capabilities to Phos.
• Adyen: Adyen is a global payments platform serving enterprise merchants with unified online and in-person acceptance, including software-based POS integrations comparable in concept to Phos's stack.
• Visa (Tap to Phone): Visa's Tap to Phone program enables acquirers and issuers to deliver SoftPOS acceptance on COTS devices. As a scheme-led incumbent, it competes with and shapes the ecosystem Phos operates in.

Direct peers

• SumUp: SumUp offers a tap-to-phone / SoftPOS product alongside its mPOS hardware, serving SMB merchants with phone-based card acceptance. It directly competes with Phos's phone-agnostic SoftPOS value proposition.
• Zettle by PayPal: Zettle (a PayPal-owned brand) provides card readers and SoftPOS/tap-to-phone acceptance to small merchants, overlapping directly with Phos's smartphone-based acceptance offering.
• myPOS: myPOS sells mobile POS terminals and SoftPOS-style acceptance to SMBs across Europe, making it a close peer to Phos in both product scope and target market.

Others

• CM.com: CM.com is a payments and conversational commerce platform that led Phos's 2021 funding round. It is comparable as a strategic ecosystem participant and distribution channel rather than a direct product competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 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 Phos