Social payments start-up Plynk plans to expand into other European markets after securing €25 million in funding.

Plynk is currently only available in the Republic of Ireland and allows person-to-person (P2P) money transfer through a chat app linked to a user’s Facebook account. The investment round was led by private equity fund Swiss Privee.

The company operates in an increasingly crowded sector, with big names including Facebook Messenger, Venmo, Paytm and, soon, Apple offering similar remittance services in selected countries.

Plynk differentiates its proposition, and looks to appeal to the 18 to 25 year-old demographic, by allowing its users to send photos and emojis with the payment embedded into it.

In a statement announcing the investment, Plynk CEO Charles Dowd (pictured) said: “Our growth plan is simple: become a verb, in every European language.”

The company’s next planned launches are in Spain and Portugal with other European countries to follow. During 2017 the company will also add the ability to transact in UK pounds to the platform.

Dowd added: “Hiring will also be a priority, adding more team members to continue development on our core product and to build more features unique to the social payments industry.”

The company was founded by Dowd, alongside CTO Clive Foley, during 2015 and previously secured funding from a number of investors including the Bank of Ireland.