Spend Management Investment Fueled By Coupa’s New Fund

B2B FinTech is so exciting for investors that even B2B FinTechs themselves want in on the action.

Case in point: Coupa Software, which provides B2B spend control technology, announced this week the creation of Coupa Ventures and its $50 million fund to fuel investment for startups also operating in the corporate finance, procurement and supply chain management arenas.

Two B2B FinTechs, Zylo and SourceDay, were announced as the first portfolio companies for the fund, though Coupa did not reveal how much it invested in each firm. Zylo provides cloud software spend management solutions, while SourceDay integrates its supply chain management tools with clients’ ERPs.

In its announcement, Coupa Ventures revealed it continues to pursue other early-stage B2B FinTechs operating in business spend management. In the meantime, below PYMNTS rounds up the latest funding rounds for other B2B FinTech startups.

Jeeves

As expense management startup Jeeves emerges from stealth, it’s also revealing a bit of investment history. Most recently, the company said it raised $26 million in Series A funding, which followed a similarly unannounced $5 million seed round, according to TechCrunch reports. Andreessen Horowitz led the Series A investment, while YC Continuity Fund, Jaguar Ventures, Urban Innovation Fund, Uncorrelated Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, Stanford University, 9 Yards Capital and BlockFi Ventures also participated. The company, which combines a card solution with spend management technology for businesses that operate across borders, plans to use the funding to onboard new business customers, invest in its infrastructure to support movement of funds between new markets, expand its team, and broaden its product offering.

Komgo

Trade finance remains a popular use-case for blockchain technology, with Komgo becoming the latest blockchain trade finance startup to impress investors. The company raised $29 million for its solution, reports in Ledger Insights said, noting SMBC and other unnamed investors stepped in for the round. The funds will be used to help Komgo expand into new geographic markets, as well as invest in marketing to broaden its reach beyond the commodities sector. Reports said the company is developing new features for its software as well.

Synctera

With a focus on enabling bank-FinTech collaborations, Synctera operates as a matchmaker for the financial services industry. Fin VC led a $33 million Series A investment in the company, TechCrunch reported, while Mastercard and Gaingels also participated, as did existing backers Lightspeed Venture Partners, Diagram Ventures, SciFi Ventures and Scribble Ventures, as well as angel investors. In addition to matching banks with FinTechs, Synctera also operates a Banking-as-a-Service platform to support management of the bank-FinTech relationship, with a focus on smaller, community financial institutions. While reports did not reveal exactly what Synctera plans to do with the funding, the company did note that it is now participating in the Cap Table Coalition, a group of companies that have vowed to commit 10 percent of any funding they receive to marginalized investors via special purpose vehicle (SPV).

Bench

A $60 million Series C funding round for Canada’s Bench coincided with the rollout of Bench Banking, the company’s small business product suite that combines banking, cards, payroll, bookkeeping, taxes and business advisory services. The company revealed Contour Venture Partners led the round, while existing backers Altos Ventures, iNovia Capital, and BMO T&I also participated. Sage and Shopify stepped in as new investors of the company as well, a press release said. The expansion of Bench beyond business accounting is the latest effort of a B2B FinTech to take a more holistic approach to business finance by incorporating a range of banking and payments solutions within a single portal.

sennder

The $80 million Series D funding for Germany-based freight-forwarding startup sennder has propelled the company to unicorn status. Following an acquisition of Uber Freight Europe and Everoad last year, sennder plans to fuel expansion by integrating with more carriers and shippers, with a focus on growth across Europe as well as the rollout of a Software-as-a-Service product. Baillie Gifford led the latest round, reports said.

project44

The largest funding round of the week — by far — is project44, a technology startup focusing on supply chain and logistics optimization. Investors at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Emergence Capital placed $202 million in Series E funding with the firm, which is now valued at $1.2 billion, the company said. With the investment, project44 said it will focus on growth and innovation through new talent acquisition, an acceleration of its expansion across borders, and product improvement. The investment follows the company’s latest product rollout, which saw its Supplier Visibility solution launch in March to allow shippers to view prepaid freight from suppliers in real-time.