Today in B2B payments, five companies add various sorts of resources that will help them expand. Chargezoom raises $10 million, Nectar gets $25 million in credit and Eezee raises $7.5 million to grow its team and develop products. Plus, Aquila acquires Cibar, while TriNet buys Clarus R+D to gain new capabilities.
Chargezoom Raises $10M to Grow AR Automation Solution
B2B invoicing and payments platform Chargezoom has raised $10 million in Series A funding to continue its product expansion and double the size of its staff by the end of the year. Chargezoom integrates with common accounting applications like QuickBooks, FreshBooks and Xero, and it provides tools that allow businesses to collect payments faster with full generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) compliance and without the need for manual accounting tasks.
Coromandel Provides $25M in Credit to Nectar to Finance Short-Term Rental Businesses
Coromandel Capital has announced that it will be providing $25 million for a senior secured credit facility to Nectar, which will use it to help short-term rental operators get advances on future revenue to finance renovations, remodels and down payments. Nectar Co-Founder and CEO Derrick Barker said: “This deal with Coromandel Capital will help us fund more of those entrepreneurs in our pipeline.”
B2B Procurement Platform Eezee Raises $7.5M in Series A
Singaporean procurement startup Eezee has raised $7.5 million in a Series A round, which will go toward growing its team and developing new B2B online procurement product features. The Eezee digital procurement platform lets businesses shop and search for products like office stationery, safety equipment and industrial supplies, and it has been touted by the company as a way to save time and money.
Investment Firm Aquila Buys Cibar to Add Trade Finance Solutions
Investment firm Aquila, a wholly owned subsidiary of Constellation Software, has acquired banking software solution provider Cibar to add trade finance solutions to its group of independent FinTech businesses. Cibar offers a comprehensive back-office solution for large- and middle-market trade finance banks and their clients. Aquila CEO Daniel Lee said: “Cibar has an incredibly customer-focused team and a wonderful brand in the trade finance marketplace.”
HR Company TriNet Buys Clarus R+D to Help SMBs Gain R&D Tax Credits
Human resources (HR) solutions provider TriNet has acquired Clarus R+D Solutions to expand the range of solutions it offers to include simplifying the research and development (R&D) tax credit process. TriNet executives said many small-m to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) qualify for these tax credits but aren’t aware of their eligibility for the credits or don’t have the time or expertise to apply for them.
B2B Payment Funding Down — but Not Out
Venture capital, private equity, seed and angel funding have been in the doldrums this summer, but there has been activity in the B2B payments space. Ten percent of the top 100 most recent transactions were in the B2B FinTech space. PYMNTS has identified trends in several key sectors of the economy.
Virtual Cards Mark Evolution of Spend Management
The rise of virtual cards has spotlighted their several inherent advantages for spend management — including the ability to embed specific “approval policies” within them. Airbase CPA John Young told PYMNTS: “The great thing about these cards [is that] they can give so much more granularity and control to people and business owners and accounting departments to control spend.”
B2B Payments Complexity Challenged by Speed, Fraud and Fees
No matter the location, no matter the payments modality — digital or offline — modern payments systems need to be fast, fraud-free and have low fees when it comes to the transactions themselves. Modern Treasury Head of Engineering Shruthi Murthy told PYMNTS: “These are the goals that any money movement system should have, and with the right payments solutions in place, they are all achievable.”
Digital Lending Firm Biz2X Partners With B2B eCommerce Platform TradeIndia
Digital lending Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform Biz2X has teamed with B2B eCommerce platform TradeIndia to provide financing solutions for microbusinesses and SMBs through Biz2X’s financial product Maadhyam. Through the arrangement, TradeIndia will provide financing to its microbusinesses and SMBs digitally, including loan servicing with features like line of credit and invoice-based financing, as well as digital credit monitoring, repayment and collections management.
Cross-Border B2B Car Dealer TRADE X Expands to Dominican Republic
Cross-border auto trading platform TRADE X has announced that it will be rolling out in the Dominican Republic. Dealers and fleet owners there will now be able to import used vehicles from other countries, which the company said will let them “meet customer needs, access hard-to-find models” and boost profits.
SMBs — and Their FIs — Share Cross-Border Payments Pain
For SMBs, B2B cross-border payments processes are complicated and filled with friction — often prohibitively so. Twenty-seven percent of SMBs rank the complexity of making cross-border payments as one of their top obstacles, according to data from the August and September “B2B Payments Tracker,” a PYMNTS and American Express collaboration.
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