Corporate Spend Management Opens B2B FinTech Floodgates

B2B FinTech continues to thrive with venture capitalists, and this week, a clear winner emerged: corporate spend management. The roundup saw not one, but two nine-figure funding rounds for expense management FinTechs working to boost control over and visibility into business spend at a time of continued volatility in the market.

Zetl

Based in both Hong Kong and Singapore, Zetl offers small businesses access to working capital, payroll and growth financing solutions. Investors placed $700,000 in seed funding in the company, reports in OpenPR said, which will help the firm expand throughout the Asia Pacific region. The Workplace Accelerator, angel investors and family offices provided the round, reports said.

WLTH

Australia’s WLTH operates in both the consumer and business finance space, offering business loans as well as home loans. But the startup also has a presence in the B2B payments space, connecting businesses with a batch payment platform, WLTH B2B. The company recently announced a seed funding round to the tune of $2.21 million (AUS$3 million), with plans to raise an additional $15 million in its Series A round next month. Reports in Business News Australia did not indicate who led the latest investment.

Anduin

North Carolina’s Anduin connects accounting firms with invoicing and billing solutions enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI). The company announced this week that it raised $14 million in seed funding led by Revolution Ventures, which will enable the firm to expand its Intelligence-Based Billing platform and introduce a Predictive Insights tool to its existing suite of services. A press release said Relevance Ventures and Merian Ventures also participated.

Dwolla

B2B payments FinTech Dwolla, based in Iowa, announced a $21 million funding round from Foundry Group. Park West Asset Management LLC, Union Square Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Firebrand Ventures and Next Level Ventures, as well as Traeger CEO Jeremy Andrus, also participated. Dwolla said the investment will empower the company to fuel growth in cross-border B2B payments through forging new partnerships and API integrations and expanding its product roadmap.

Paro

Chicago’s Paro helps businesses access financial expertise on-demand, and its technology has captured the attention of Madrona Venture Group, which led a $25 million Series B funding round. Revolution Ventures, Sierra Ventures and KGC Capital also participated. Paro said in its press release that the funding will fuel international expansion and support the company’s investments in artificial intelligence.

Yapily

A $51 million Series B investment round for U.K.-based Yapily will help the company expand its open banking operations throughout Europe. Sapphire Ventures led the round, and existing investors Lakestar, HV Capital and Latitude also participated, the company said in its announcement. Yapily works to wield open banking to power account-to-account payments and connect other businesses to payments initiation technology.

GudangAda

One of several six-figure funding rounds for a B2B FinTech this week, GudangAda in Indonesia raised $100 million for its digital B2B marketplace solution. The B2B eCommerce startup announced the Series B funding was led by Asia Partners and Falcon Edge, while Sequoia Capital India, Alpha JWC and Wavemaker Parkers also participated, according to TechCrunch. The company targets small and medium-sized businesses in the country with a digital tool to buy and sell a variety of products.

Interos

Also raising $100 million this week is Interos, a supply chain management technology firm that focuses on mitigating physical, compliance and cyber risks throughout supply chains. Its Series C funding was led by NightDragon, while current backers Kleiner Perkins and Venrock also participated. A press release by the company said the investment values the firm at more than $1 billion and will enable the company to help protect its business clients from supply chain disruption with its early warning system and real-time analytics.

Spendesk

France’s Spendesk captured $117.7 million in fresh funding this week for its expense management technology. The Series C funding was led by General Atlantic, with existing investors Index Ventures and Eight Road Ventures also taking part. Spendesk said it will use the investment — this week’s second-largest round — to fuel hiring, product innovation and automation investment.

Soldo

This week’s B2B FinTech investment roundup leader is Soldo, a corporate card and payments automation company that raised $180 million in Series C funding. The oversubscribed round marks a record for a spend management FinTech in Europe, according to Soldo’s announcement, which noted Temasek led the funding. Additional backers included Sunley House Capital, Advent International’s crossover fund and Citi Ventures while existing investors Accel, Battery Ventures, Dawn Capital and Silicon Valley Bank also participated (the latter in the form of debt financing). Soldo aims to help businesses control costs by automating spend data analysis and providing real-time insights into transactions. The funding will be used to focus on product development and expansion across Europe.