Trade Finance, Early Wage Access Take B2B VC Lead

With $227.5 million in combined funding, B2B FinTechs remain resilient in today’s current market. Investments ranged across geographies and industries, but the biggest highlights landed on trade financing and early wage access innovators, as startups bolster their value by supporting small businesses’ and employees’ financial recovery.

ZipLoan

India-based ZipLoan secured $2 million in debt funding from Stride Ventures, the Economic Times of India said this week. ZipLoan operates a digital platform to connect small businesses to loans, with a focus on kirana stores and micro-enterprises. According to reports, the investment marks Stride’s first in the FinTech space, while for ZipLoan, the funding will help the company continue to scale through volatile times.

Vitesse

Real-time cross-border B2B payment FinTech Vitesse has announced $8.3 million in Series A funding. TechCrunch reported that Octopus Ventures led the round, while existing investors Hoxton Ventures and several angel investors also participated. Vitesse plans to deploy the investment to fuel growth and focus on sales and marketing initiatives, while also broadening its presence in the U.S. Today, it focuses on businesses in the insurance, payroll and corporate payments arena that need to move money across borders.

Creze

Mexico’s Creze secured about $12 million in fresh funding that will bolster the company’s small business lending operations. The company will aim to enhance its risk analysis to accelerate loan processing for businesses to receive capital access financing within three days, per reports in Contxto.

CANDIS

Accounting automation startup CANDIS secured about $14.2 million in financing from Viola Ventures and Rabo Frontier Ventures, while existing backers Lightspeed Venture Partners, Point Nine Capital, Speedinvest and others also participated, according to a press release. The Series B round will go toward the development of the company’s machine learning engine and the expansion of its presence across Europe as it drives automation of accounting processes for small and medium-sized businesses.

Routable

B2B payments startup Routable has emerged from stealth mode, and is launching with a $16 million investment round. In a press release, the company said that $12 million comes in the form of a Series A investment from Y Combinator, Founders Co-Op, Lee Fixel, Box Group and several other investors. The firm plans to deploy the funding for hiring and product scaling, with a focus on automated accounts payable processes from receipt to settlement.

Blend

Lending-as-a-service technology company Blend has secured a nearly $1.7 billion valuation with its recent $75 million Series F investment round. The California startup saw the funding led by Canapi Ventures, while existing backers Temasek, General Atlantic, 8VC, Greylock and Emergence also participated. Blend said it will use the funding to further develop its digital platform for a range of financing products that financial institutions can use in their own efforts to digitize and modernize.

Incomlend

Hailing from Singapore, Incomlend secured a $20 million funding round led by Sequoia Capital India, per recent TechCrunch reports. The FinTech has built a digital platform to connect exporters and importers with providers of trade finance in an effort to accelerate cash flow for exporters to receive payment more quickly, rather than having to wait until shipped goods have arrived. The Series A investment, which also saw participation from the CMA CGM Group, will go toward expansion throughout Southeast and North Asia, as well as Europe, and will also bolster technology initiatives.

PayActiv

PayActiv, a California startup connecting employees to earned wages and broader financial wellness solutions, announced a $100 million fundraise this week led by Eldridge. Existing PayActiv shareholders Generation Partners and the Ziegler Link-Age Fund II also participated in the Series C round, reports said. The company’s investment round comes as it continues to migrate the employment ecosystem away from a two-week pay cycle, with CEO and Co-Founder Safwan noting, “The timing gap between work and wages is the main reason why workers get hit with punitive late fees, overdraft fees and other penalties.”