Today in B2B: APIs Play Critical Role in Payments Orchestration; Digital Bank Lunar Raises $76M

Today in B2B payments, Happiness Development inked a $6.7 million direct offering for a B2B auto business, and decentralized markets and local skills boost European B2B wholesale eCommerce. Plus, digital bank Lunar raises $76 million in fundraising round.

Happiness Development Unveils $6.7M Direct Offering for B2B Auto Business

Automotive sales and eCommerce company Happiness Development Group Limited on Friday (March 11) inked a securities purchase agreement with overseas strategic investors for a registered direct placement of about $6.7 million, according to a company press release.

As part of the deal, Happiness Development will sell 19.2 million Class A ordinary shares at 35 cents each. The company will use the gross proceeds from the sale to develop its auto business under the Taochejun brand and to increase working capital for general corporate purposes.

83% of Businesses Say APIs Are Critical to Their Strategies

Application programming interfaces (APIs) play a central role in payments orchestration because they bridge merchants and a multitude of payment service provider options. More than four out of five (83%) of businesses consider APIs critical to their strategies next year and beyond, according to “Accelerating The Time To First-Time Payments,” a PYMNTS and Spreedly collaboration.

The primary use cases of APIs for these businesses include integrations to payment gateways, fraud management tools and other technologies. APIs are also a key driver of automated services, such as payments compliance detection, particularly when it comes to eCommerce.

Digital Bank Lunar Raises $76M

Digital bank Lunar has closed a $76 million (70 million euros) Series D-2 fundraising round, the Scandinavian company said in a blog post Friday (March 11).

The latest funding round brings Lunar’s Series D funding to $307 million (280 million euros) and will help it continue to expand across the region.

Lunar began as a personal finance management solution for consumers and businesses but has evolved to provide those customers with payments, banking and investment services. It also recently launched a blockchain division and a crypto platform in what it says is an attempt to provide Nordic customers with easier crypto trading.

Bridging the Spend Management Visibility/Data Gap

Glean AI announced Tuesday (March 8) that it raised $10.8 million in seed financing that will enable the company to accelerate its growth and technology.

Glean AI developed an accounts payable (AP) platform that uses machine learning to analyze deal terms, line-item purchases, redundant opportunities and negotiation opportunities.

The platform compares last month’s spend to this month’s, shows which lines items have changed, tells them if Glean AI’s other customers are paying less for the item and points out items for which the customer might be able to drive a harder bargain.

Decentralized Markets, Local Skills Boost B2B Wholesale eCommerce in Europe

Fast-growing wholesale marketplace Ankorstore, founded in 2019 in France, is working to overcome Europe’s high market fragmentation, which requires platforms decentralize their operations and acquire local knowledge and expertise that can enable them to effectively address local needs in the different markets.

Apart from the differences between markets, trying to disrupt the traditional wholesale market and convincing brands and retailers to change the way they consider purchasing and wholesale can be difficult for a young, fast-growing company like Ankorstore.

The company has gained the trust of more 16,000 brands and 200,000 retailers across Europe that have listed over one million products on the platform to date.