Today in B2B: Cross-Border B2B Payments Boost Annual US, UK Sales; B2B Sales Platform Apollo Raises $110M

Today in B2B payments, Apollo.io raises $110 million for hiring more staff and Sary acquires Egyptian B2B platform Mowarrid to expand into Africa. Plus, no business is too small to start its digitization journey and cross-border B2B payments are becoming increasingly important to annual sales for businesses in the U.S. and U.K.

Sary Expands to Africa With Acquisition of Egyptian B2B Platform Mowarrid

Middle Eastern and North African business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce marketplace Sary has acquired Egyptian B2B food and grocery marketplace in Egypt Mowarrid, a strategic move for Sary’s expansion into North Africa, where it plans build a regional network.

With more than $60 billion in revenues, Mowarrid represents a great opportunity for Sary, the company added, reflecting Sary’s mission to launch multiple expansion opportunities with its vision to dominate B2B eCommerce in emerging markets.

Cross-Border B2B Payments Account for 26% of UK and US Firms’ Annual Sales

The B2B space’s trend toward digitization is continuing and has accelerated during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move to online transactions has been fueled by both the requirements of pandemic-driven shutdowns and the preferences of millennials, the first digital-native generation, who increasingly account for greater portions of the global workforce.

B2B commerce is also expanding globally as firms look to grow by moving into additional markets. In fact, cross-border B2B transactions account for 26% of U.K. and U.S. businesses’ annual sales, according to “Innovating B2B Payments,” a PYMNTS and i2c collaboration.

B2B Sales Platform Apollo.io Lands $110M

B2B sales intelligence platform Apollo.io announced Thursday (March 3) it had closed a $110 million Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital, bringing the total money raised by the company to $150 million. CEO Tim Zheng said the San Francisco-based firm would use the funds towards hiring, with Apollo.io investing nearly 300% more in product and engineering.

The platform helps sales teams access contact data for more than 220 million contacts, as well as tools to engage these contacts in a single platform.

Peeling Back the Digital Payments ‘Onion’ is Critical to Maximizing Cash Flow

The pandemic has hastened many corporate evolutions, forcing them to embrace at least some modernization of back-end processes. However, there are still pockets of operations — particularly with procurement or accounts payable — where there remains room for improvement and better visibility into cash flows.

Many companies are not as digitally savvy as they appear to be — particularly not when it comes to payments. Presently, 21% of the chief operating officers at the largest companies said they aren’t digitizing their payments because they already have robust systems in place.

Smaller firms in particular are realizing the advantages of digitization, where 70% of smaller companies recognize the benefits. No company is too small to realize some benefit from taking a digital approach, said Corcentric President and Chief Operating Officer Matt Clark.