This week in B2B investments marked another week of major funding rounds and acquisitions for leading companies across the industry. To start, this includes Dealstruck — the online direct lending that announced it raised $58 million in new funding support for its small business lending.
Dealstruck announced April 8 that it secured $50 million credit facility, which was led by Brevet Capital Management. It also secured another $8.3 million from Trinity Ventures for equity funding. The new funding infusion will be used to allow Dealstruck to secure more capital for small businesses, while at the same time increasing Dealstruck’s lending capacity to above $100 million, the company said.
“In less than two years we’ve experienced record growth, having built our organization on meeting the unique needs of small businesses that could not otherwise secure capital from traditional lenders,” Ethan Senturia, CEO of Dealstruck, said in a company news release. “Recent IPOs by alternative lenders validate an increasing need for new sources of growth capital. We look forward to building on our growth to-date by setting even more businesses on the path to becoming bankable.”
The company provided some key stats about the SMB lending industry, citing that 80 percent of businesses look toward capital loans to spur growth. Regardless of demand, statistics show that eight out of 10 U.S. small businesses have been rejected by a bank/credit union when seeking a loan, according to Dealstruck.
“Brevet is pleased to provide financing to Dealstruck, an innovative leader in the online, direct lending arena focused on small businesses. The facility will allow Dealstruck to better support small businesses which are an important engine of economic growth,” said Doug Monticciolo of Brevet Capital. “These businesses and their owners will greatly benefit from financial inclusion afforded by the Dealstruck platform.”
In other B2B lending news, Kyriba, a cloud-based treasury management solutions company, announced it has completed a $21 million round of Series C funding. The company said the new funding round will be used for “product innovation and to support the company’s rapid global expansion.” Investors of this round include HSBC, BRED Banque Populaire, Daher Capital, Iris Capital and Upfront Ventures.
“We are pleased to have HSBC on board as a strategic investor in Kyriba,” said Jean-Luc Robert, chairman and CEO of Kyriba. “This is a clear validation of our product capabilities and strategy. This investment will enable us to continue to enrich our solution and sustain our strong growth trajectory worldwide.”
Moving outside the U.S. and into the U.K., Basware Corporation announced it has agreed to acquire Procserve, an e-procurement solution provider for U.K.’s public sector. The price of the sale is approximately $27.6 million, according to Basware.
“As part of its strategy, Basware continuously supports organic growth with acquisitions in its key markets. This acquisition will make Basware the market leader for the public sector in the U.K.,” said Esa Tihilä, CEO of Basware Corporation. “Through the acquisitions over the recent years, Basware is already the leading e-invoicing operator in the Nordics, the Benelux market and Germany, and now Basware significantly strengthens its foothold in the U.K.”
PYMNTS also took a closer look at the data regarding investments – VC funding, private placements, IPOs, M&As, etc. – in the B2B Commerce area as last week Fundtech, a leading provider of software products and services to banks of all sizes around the world, has been sold to D+H Corp. for $1.25 billion. This is the biggest acquisition of the year in this area. D+H’s big $1.25 billion bid for Fundtech comes as the Canadian firm is looking to expand its offerings and customer base in the global payment and cash management services sector.
“GTCR is proud to have supported Fundtech’s remarkable transformation and growth since the inception of our investment. We appreciate the ingenuity and hard work on the part of CEO Reuven Ben Menachem, President Ed Ho, CFO Karl Jaeger and other team members to build a truly exceptional company, with strong product innovation, a quality- and service-focused orientation, and global scale. We believe that the company is well-positioned to continue its success as a part of D+H,” said GTCR Managing Director Collin Roche, when the announcement was made.
This week’s PYMNTS’ Investment Tracker also notes:
Here are the Top 5 B2B commerce investments that drove 90 percent of the funding activity in the first week of April YTD (Investment Round Type):
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