PayPal’s Blockchain First; Mastercard’s B2B FinTech Unicorn

This week’s B2B venture capital funding rounds were particularly focused on the enterprise cybersecurity space, though B2B payments caught the attention of investors, too, with another industry unicorn making its debut. But just as noteworthy in this week’s roundup are the investors themselves, which include PayPal and Mastercard. Here’s a look at how more than $180 million in fresh funding landed among B2B startups.

Aqua Security

Cybersecurity firm Aqua Security announced $62 million in Series C funding this week, with Microsoft’s venture fund M12, TLV Partners, Shlomo Kramer and Lightspeed Venture Partners participating. The round, led by Insight Partners, will be used to “focus on the needs of enterprise customers and product innovation,” according to Aqua’s CEO and Co-Founder Dror Davidoff in a statement. The company deploys open-source technology to address cybersecurity issues of cloud-native enterprise apps, reports said, a key risk for businesses as they continue their digital transformations.

Sqreen

Also operating in the enterprise app cybersecurity space is Sqreen, which closed $14 million in Series A funding, a press release said this week. The application security management company saw the funding led by Greylock Partners, while Y Combinator and previous backers Alven Capital and Point Nine also participated in the round. Using a hybrid software-as-a-service architecture, Sqreen enables companies to seamlessly deploy its app protection solution, which can detect malicious activity within apps.

Boost Payment Solutions

As it moves forward in its initiative to promote commercial card adoption, Boost Payment Solutions has secured $12 million in new funding from investors at Mosaik Partners and North Atlantic Capital, the company said this week. Boost will use the Series B round, comprised of venture capital and equity debt, to strengthen the company’s profile in the U.S. and abroad, the firm said. Healthcare, freight, logistics, transportation, real estate, media and telecom industries are within the company’s line of sight as it focuses on growth and adoption of its solution, which tackles commercial and virtual card payment friction in the B2B payments space.

Bill.com

Accounts payable and business payments technology company Bill.com is the B2B FinTech industry’s newest unicorn after securing $88 million in funding led by Franklin Templeton. Fidelity Investments Canada ULC and others also participated, reports noted. Bill.com also announced a partnership with Mastercard that enables the payments company to integrate its virtual card technology into the Bill.com platform. Together, the companies are focused on accelerating accounts payable to not only pay suppliers more quickly, but also to reduce the administrative burden on AP professionals, the firms said.

Cambridge Blockchain

Focused on providing financial institutions and enterprise clients with blockchain-powered data protection solutions, Cambridge Blockchain has scored an extension on its Series A funding round thanks to a high-profile backer: PayPal. The companies did not disclose how much PayPal provided, but reports in CoinDesk said Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings suggest Cambridge Blockchain secured $3.5 million in new equity from a range of backers in the last nine months. The company closed its Series A round last May, and has now raised a total of $10.5 million, reports said. The PayPal funding is noteworthy, as it is the company’s first investment in a blockchain startup, reports said.

Novo

Small business banking startup Novo announced $4.8 million in seed funding this week led by Crosslink Capital, which Co-Founder and CEO Michael Rangel said will be used to focus on customer on-boarding and the development of strategic partnerships to grow its service offering. The company works with Middlesex Federal Savings, a community bank that enables Novo to offer regulated banking services to small businesses. A press release said Crosslink Capital, Red Sea Ventures, Hack VC, RRE, Rainfall and the Stanford Law School Venture Fund also participated in the round.