Smile Sail Acquires Majority Stake in Twikey

Smile Sail, an Evergreen Private Equity fund specializing in Software and AI, has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Ghent-based FinTech Twikey, a leading European payment orchestration platform. Twikey’s existing management team, including co-founders Dominique Adriansens and Koen Serry, is re-investing alongside Smile Sail, marking the fund’s first Belgian investment. Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed.

Twikey streamlines recurring payments for businesses across Europe and the UK, processing over €29 billion in 2025 for more than 2,000 customers. Its platform connects with over 3,500 banks and payment providers, achieving a success rate above 99%, reducing revenue loss from failed direct debits from 3% to less than 1%, and providing proactive risk and fraud prevention capabilities powered by AI.

Smile Sail will support Twikey strategically and financially to strengthen its European presence, including expansion into Germany, Scandinavia, and the UK. The partnership leverages Smile Sail’s software and AI expertise, network, and growth capital to accelerate Twikey’s scale-up ambitions, enhance its platform capabilities, and further consolidate its position as a pan-European recurring payments solution.

“By partnering with Smile Sail, we gain expertise and support to scale our platform across Europe, improve proactive fraud prevention, and enhance the recurring payments experience for our clients,” said Dominique Adriansens. Smile Sail’s investment underscores its strategy of backing Software and AI leaders, providing capital, strategic guidance, and sector specialization to drive sustainable growth.

With this transaction, Twikey aims to offer businesses a unified, efficient solution for recurring payments while continuing to innovate in risk management and AI-driven automation. The deal positions both Twikey and Smile Sail to capitalize on the fast-growing European market for digital payments and subscription management.