Today in B2B: Policygenius Raises $125M in Investor Funding; Spend Management Platform Torpango Acquires Wildlife

Today in B2B payments, PYMNTS research found that B2B payment solutions need an overhaul to meet changing customer needs and demands. Plus, Japanese digital banking platform Kyash raised $41 million in Series D funding round and Berlin recommerce startup firm reverse.supply raised $5.5 million in seed funding.

Only 30% of Businesses Believe Current B2B Payment Solutions are ‘Very’ or ‘Extremely’ Effective

PYMNTS found that businesses’ two most cited sources of payments friction are invoice reconciliation and the inability to offer supplier portals. Just over 40% of financial institutions (FIs) say these are either an important problem, or the most important problem, for corporate clients when making payments to their suppliers.

Between 30% and 35% of FIs cite working capital management, slow underwriting and lack of payment choice as problems. Additionally, between 22% and 29% point to spend management, real-time cash flow management, data that’s not provided across all areas of the organization, payment integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP), the inability to share data across all functions and real-time reporting.

Smaller percentages of FIs named the inability to manage with mobile apps, having an integrated system between accounts payable and accounts receivable, a lack of digital check collection, slow transaction confirmation and late or incorrect payments as smaller sources of payment friction.

Berlin Recommerce Startup reverse.supply Completes $5.5M Seed Financing Round

Berlin-based second-hand clothing software company reverse.supply announced Thursday (March 17) that it has raised €5 million ($5.5 million) in a seed funding round.

In its announcement, the company said the funding will be used to launch the company, hire staff, enhance the tech platform and acquire customers. Early-stage venture capital company Capnamic led the funding round, which also saw participation from existing investors Push Ventures, the Dutch Founders Fund, Outfittery and Rebuy.

Spend Management Firm Torpango Acquires Wishlife

Spend management firm Torpango announced Thursday (March 17) that it has acquired video communication and content management software maker Wishlife in an all-stock deal.

As part of the deal, the Wishlife technology team, led by Lei Wang, will integrate into Torpango and Wang will become the company’s chief technology officer. Torpango will also acquire Wishlife’s technology talent, in hopes of “enhancing their product roadmap and technology capabilities,” according to the press release.

Additionally, Walter Kortschak, the founder of Kortschak Investments and an investor in Wishlife, will become a member of the Torpango board of directors. Kortschak has spent nearly five decades investing in companies and “brings a breadth of expertise” to Torpango, the company said.

InsurTech Firm Policygenius Raises $125M

InsurTech firm Policygenius has raised $125 million in new growth capital, which it will use to continue the growth of its core businesses of life, disability, home and auto insurance, along with new no-exam life insurance offerings and its Policygenius Pro offering.

The new funding brings the total capital raised by Policygenius to $225 million. The company took in $100 million in early 2020.

Digital Bank Kyash Raises $41M in Series D

Japanese digital banking startup Kyash has raised 4.9 billion yen ($41 million) in a Series D funding round, bringing its total funding to about 12.8 billion yen ($107 million).

The company’s payment solution connects to Visa’s platform so it can issue cards while also providing customized business services. Japan has been trying to go cashless since 2019, when the government started partially subsidizing digital payments.