Venture Capitalists Revive Faith In B2B FinTech Startups

B2B FinTech venture capital funding has been slow in recent weeks amid an environment in which investors overall are feeling hesitant.

That’s bad news for startups, particularly as research from Biz2Credit found that loan approval rates for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) actually declined in August among traditional banks.

Yet this week may signal a turnaround for the B2B FinTech arena. B2B payments startup Melio revealed that it has secured a total of $144 million in venture capital funding since its launch two years ago, including an $80 million Series C investment last month.

And in this week’s B2B Venture Capital roundup, investors placed a combined $121.8 million in startups working to streamline B2B payments, payroll, SMB banking and other areas of B2B FinTech. PYMNTS rounds up all the latest deals below.

Salaryo

New York’s Salaryo secured $5.8 million in funding led by Variant Investments, KEN Investments, Techstars Ventures and Michael Ullmann’s investment group. The company, which operates a platform for freelancers and startups to access term loans and lines of credit, plans to deploy the funding to focus on connecting SMBs to coronavirus relief capital and launch new banking products in 2021.

“Our next big step in the materialization of our vision to be the Bank of the Future of Work is planned for next year, when we launch a suite of digital banking products that are designed for cash flow volatility and income uncertainty,” CEO and Co-Founder Yair Levy said in a statement.

Anchanto

Based in Singapore, B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) startup Anchanto secured more than $12 million in new funding that will help accelerate its expansion initiatives for its warehouse and inventory management technology. The startup saw its latest backing by Asendia and MDI Ventures, whose investments will go toward product development as Anchanto looks to add new features to its offering. Reports noted that the company has announced the investment as it commences its partnership with cross-border eCommerce shipping and logistics conglomerate Asendia AG, whose Singapore operations are using Anchanto technologies, and whose collaboration with Anchanto can help the startup expand into Europe.

Oyster Financial

FinTech startup Oyster Financial is working to address the underbanked population of SMBs in Mexico. The company describes itself as a neo-bank that operates core banking technology to connect SMBs and sole proprietors to financial services, including a bank account and debit card. The company announced via press release this week a $14 million seed funding investment round, marking Latin America’s largest-ever venture capital seed round, the company said. Investors at monashees and SV Latam Capital led the investment, while FJ Labs, FinTech Collective, Kevin Efrusy, Redpoint eventures, S7 Ventures and Ulu Ventures also participated. Oyster said it plans to deploy the capital to continue focusing on growth in Mexico.

Deel

Payroll FinTech startup Deel notched $30 million in Series B funding, the company said this week, pointing to Spark Capital as the leader of the investment round. The company targets employers with distributed workforces to address friction like employee onboarding and cross-border payroll. With the new funding, Deel said it plans to continue its drive to challenge “the notion that companies need to hire within their vicinity,” CEO and Co-Founder Alex Bouaziz said in a statement.

Thunes

Cross-border B2B payments startup Thunes announced $60 million in Series B funding this week — the largest of this roundup — led by Helios Investment Partners, while Checkout.com and existing backers GGV Capital and Future Shape also participated. Singapore-based Thunes said it will use the investment to fuel growth with a focus on expansion in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Thunes operates a platform to connect banks, money transfer operators, mobile wallet providers, and other service providers to facilitate movement of business payments across borders.

“The projected size of emerging markets cross-border payments is around $45 trillion,” CEO Peter De Caluwe said in a statement.