B2B Venture Capital: Corporate Social Media, Marijuana Procurement, and Big Data

B2B FinTechs in the U.S. and India seem to be an unshakable force these days. This week, the two countries were the only markets that landed on the B2B venture capital board, with funding landing at SaaS, Big Data and procurement startups across a range of industries, from corporate social media management to marijuana procurement. PYMNTS breaks down the $24 million in venture capital raised.

Software-As-A-Service (SaaS)

SOCi

California-based SOCi offers SaaS for businesses to manage their social media accounts for marketing and BI purposes. The company said this week it raised $8.5 million in Series A financing for its solution backed by Vertical Venture Partners and Grayhawk Capital. The round also saw participation from the Stanford University DAPER fund, Peninsula Ventures and Tallwave Capital, reports said. In a statement, SOCi CEO AFif Khoury said it is a “new day” in corporates’ approach to social media, with many businesses tasked with managing hundreds or even thousands of social media pages. SOCi’s SaaS offering streamlines that process, Khoury said.

Whatfix

In India, enterprise SaaS startup Whatfix announced its own $3.7 million Series a round led by Stellaris Venture Partners. The company enables businesses to create their own interactive help guides on their websites, reports said this week in an effort to reduce training demands. With the new funding, which also saw participation from several angel investors, will help the company expand in the U.S., where 60 percent of existing customers are based, and will also go towards R&D, Whatfix said.

Big Data

Perfios

Also from India, software startup Perfios revealed $6.1 million in Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Partners this week. Perfios operates in both the B2B and B2C markets and provides financial institutions and FinTechs with solutions to aggregate and analyze financial data for the purpose of streamlining loan decision making. In a statement, the company said it will use the funds to expand its team and grow internationally, especially in the United Arab Emirates and Southeast Asia. Existing users of Perfios’ solutions include YES Bank, Axis Bank and Lendingkart.

Supply Chain Management

WayCcol

With a focus on the fresh produce space, Waycool, based in India, raised $2.7 million from Aspada Investment Company to streamline trade between smaller farmers and corporate buyers including restaurants, hotels, local shops and catering companies. The company uses a hybrid business model, reports said, of using value chain companies that focus on the produce space or sourcing direct from farmers themselves to streamline B2B trade in the industry. With the new funds, Waycool said it will expand across India and focus on building out its existing infrastructure.

B2B eCommerce

LeafLink

Back in the U.S., LeafLink announced $3 million in seed funding led by Hippeau Ventures, reports this week said. The company provides a B2B eCommerce platform for cannabis retailers to procure product online while ensuring legal compliance. In addition to its eCommerce marketplace, LeafLink also supports other back-office functions for suppliers, including CRM, order management and data reporting. The firm said it will use the funding to expand from Colorado into other states in which marijuana laws are becoming more lenient, including California, Nevada and Oregon. In addition to Hippeau Ventures, Casa Verde Capital, Phyto Partners, Wisdom VC and other backers also participated in the funding round.

Honorable Mention

Zilliant

Goldman Sachs made a sizeable investment ($30 million) into SaaS company Zilliant, according to reports this week. The Austin-based company, which secured the funding from Goldman’s Private Capital Investing Group, provides predictive sales, data analytics and business optimization services to its enterprise customers. In a statement, PCI Group Vice President Holder Staude said Zilliant is in a position “to deliver significant value to the B2B industry” with its AI-enabled analytics capabilities.