Phos
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
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Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Phos was a Sofia, Bulgaria fintech founded in 2018 by Ivo Gueorguiev, Antonina Martinova and Valeri Valtchev (CEO Brad Hyett). It built a SoftPOS orchestration platform that turns any NFC-enabled smartphone or tablet into a payment terminal — accepting contactless cards, Apple Pay/Google Pay and QR payments — with acquirer integration, certification-as-a-service, white-label apps and SDKs. From 2019 to 2023 it was backed by angel investors and VC funds.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
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03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Company founded
Ivo Gueorguiev, Antonina Martinova and Valeri Valtchev found Phos in Sofia to make card acceptance possible on any mobile phone; the founders had previously brought Apple Pay acceptance to Bulgaria.
- Funding and launch
Phos begins its funding journey (2019–2023) with angel and VC backing and launches its SoftPOS platform across high-growth markets.
- Acquired by Ingenico
French payments leader Ingenico acquires 100% of Phos (announced March 28, 2023, terms undisclosed), integrating the SoftPOS solution into its Payments Platform-as-a-Service.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
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Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
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