British payments company GoCardless has just raised a $312m Series G funding round. That makes it the UK’s 22nd fintech unicorn — and the first to join the UK fintech unicorn club this year, according to Sifted’s calculations.

The funding round was led by Klarna investor Permira, joined by new investor BlackRock Private Equity Partners, and brings the fintech’s valuation to $2.1bn.

With the round, GoCardless has bolstered its board with two ex-Klarna hires: Michael Rouse, Klarna’s former chief commercial officer, and Koen Köppen, Klarna’s former chief technology officer, who are both joining as independent directors. 

“I am delighted to have partners like Permira and BlackRock Private Equity Partners on board, with their global footprint and strong expertise in tech, to support us in building a direct bank payment network that lets payments flow freely, without cards, expiration dates or extra costs,” said cofounder and CEO Hiroki Takeuchi.

GoCardless plans to funnel the latest cash injection into developing its product offering and expanding its geographical footprint on its quest to become the “world’s leading network for direct bank payments,” the startup said today.

GoCardless has grown significantly since its last funding round in December 2020, more than doubling its valuation from $970m to $2.1bn and growing its headcount by 85%.

It now processes more than $25bn in transactions annually and boasts a client base of more than 70,000 global businesses.

Some of the payment company’s most recent deals have involved some big names in fintech. Klarna, Europe’s most valuable startup, recently picked GoCardless to offer bank debit payments to its 21m-strong US customer base, and GoCardless just signed a strategic agreement with PayPal to become its direct debit partner.

Amy O’Brien is a reporter at Sifted. She tweets from @Amy_EOBrien