Three Cheers For B2B FinTech Startups

Only a few years ago, B2B payments were thought of as the underdog in FinTech innovation. This week, venture capitalists prove the doubters wrong, providing $105 million to startups that operate directly in the B2B payments space.

Alternative Lending

Unilend

Usually, alternative lending startups flourish in the U.S., U.K. or even Australia. This week, France scores the spotlight, thanks to Unilend, a crowdfunding platform that raised more than $2.8 million in funding from NewAlpha Asset Management.

The funding, which was originally revealed earlier this week, marks the latest support for the firm after its founding in 2013.

“Welcoming a major investors, such as NewAlpha, to our capital is an acknowledgement of our commercial and technological success and a proof of the strength of our credit analysis model,” stated Unilend Founder and CEO Nicolas Lesur.

Logistics

oTMS

India is usually in the spotlight for its B2B logistics startups, but this time, Shanghai-based oTMS nabbed the funding. On Tuesday (Sept. 13), the firm revealed a $25 million funding round led by Kuaidi Dachi Founder Chen Weixing, according to reports.

The Series B funding will be used to help the startup expand its market share in China. OTMS provides transportation and logistics solutions for manufacturers and retailers, the company explained.

“The purpose of B round is to bring more interest and B2C DNA to the company to enable us to grow even faster,” said oTMS CEO and Cofounder Mirek Dabrowski, explaining how the funding will be used after its Series A funding round.

Procure-to-Pay

Tipalti

Tipalti is no stranger to PYMNTS, but the company’s latest funding round is noteworthy. The accounts payable automation firm revealed on Wednesday (Sept. 14) that it raised $14 million from SGVC, funding the firm said would help it expand its accounts payable solutions, as well as its team.

In addition to SGVC’s investment, the firm’s managing partner, Dovi Frances, was announced as the latest member of Tipalti’s board of directors.

“We are truly ecstatic to invest in Tipalti and add them to our growing portfolio of marquee FinTech companies who are changing the B2B payments and business finance landscape,” Frances said in a statement announcing the funding.

Fusebill

Fusebill is a startup serving a particular type of business, though one that is growing in popularity. The company offers billing solutions for companies like software firms that bill on a subscription basis. To support its solution, ScaleUp Ventures and Langdell Investments provided $6 million in venture capital, reports said on Monday.

In a statement, ScaleUp General Partner Kent Thexton described Fusebill as the sort of company that has the “tenacity and vision to rise to the top of one of the hottest trends, especially for eCommerce businesses and other companies looking to monetize IoT.”

Sourcery

Here’s an industry-specific B2B payments startup: Sourcery announced a $5 million investment round for its solution that enables companies in the food and hospitality industry to pay suppliers. Steadfast Capital led the round, reports said on Wednesday.

“While the food and hospitality industry is one of the nation’s largest, there is still opportunity to provide greater efficiency through technology,” the company’s founder and CEO, Na’ama Moran, said in a statement. “Ultimately, it’s our goal to help our customers streamline payments and invoicing and derive insights about pricing and supply so they can focus on growing their business and not on doing administrative tasks.”

Sourcery added that, with the latest investment, it will look to launch an accounts receivable solution for the vendors that get paid through its platform.

Enterprise Security

LogRhythm

The enterprise security space is getting crowded, and one startup, LogRhythm, says its latest funding round will help it stay competitive.

LogRhythm announced a $50 million investment — the largest of the week — for its enterprise security solution, which focuses on the speed with which companies can detect and handle a security threat. Riverwood Capital, Adams Street Partners, Siemens Venture Capital, Delta-v Capital and members of the company’s management team participated in the funding round, reports said.

According to LogRhythm, the company will use the $50 million to position itself against rivals in the security threat detection space, an industry slated to reach a $23 billion valuation by 2020.

Commercial Cards

Pleo

Here’s a rare breed: Pleo, based in Finland, offers corporate cards for the purpose of streamlining expense reporting. Rare is a commercial card startup, but even rarer is a venture capitalist to support such a startup. On Thursday (Sept. 15), the company announced a $3 million seed funding round, led by Founders, itself a startup.

The seed funding will help Pleo strengthen its services to its already 650 corporate clients, according to reports, with a total of 10,000 employees that need to file expense reports. Pleo’s commercial card solution integrates directly into its corporate clients’ accounting software, the firm explained, in an effort to streamline expense reporting burdens for individual employees.

“Every company knows the pains and complexities of dealing with expenses,” said Pleo CEO Jeppe Rindom in a statement. “The amount of interest we have received in the past few months and the sheer number of signups for early access on our website is a glaring indicator that we are really onto something.”