Young B2B FinTechs Secure Their Seed Rounds

While 2021 has kicked off with a bang in the venture capital arena — with several high-value investments on the books — this week’s B2B VC roundup is all about the seed rounds. Young B2B FinTechs secured some of their first investments in areas that include small business accounting, alternative lending and financial management. But the leader of the pack goes to one corporate travel and expense management startup that impressed investors despite a business trip slump.

Bookkeeper360

Kicking off this week’s roundup is Bookkeeper360, a U.S.-based startup that announced a $1 million seed investment round that it plans to use for growth and product development. The firm connects small businesses with real-time financial data to manage accounting and cash flow. Angel investors provided the funding just months after the startup launched last September.

CreditEnable

With headquarters in both the U.K. and India, alternative small business lending technology company CreditEnable has revealed $2 million in pre-Series A funding, according to Inc42 reports. The company saw the investment led by Venture Catalysts, while JPIN Venture Catalysts also participated. CreditEnable plans to deploy the funding to strengthen its technology platform and expand its customer base across India. The startup uses data analytics technologies to connect small businesses to a range of business loan products via bank partners.

Volopay

With $2.1 million in seed funding, Singapore-based Volopay is looking to expand its footprint into Australia, the company said in a recent press release. Volopay is building out its FinTech platform designed to streamline financial control for businesses. The company offers a range of services, including business accounts, commercial cards, bill payment, expense reimbursement and accounting. Investors in the company include Tinder founder Justin Mateen, who led the seed round, while Soma Capital, CP Ventures, Y Combinator, VentureSouq and other investors also participated.

Bazaar

Also securing seed funding is Bazaar, a B2B online marketplace based in Pakistan developed for the food and grocery arena to connect wholesale suppliers to retailers. The company recently announced $6.5 million in funding, Deal Street Asia reported, with the investment led by Global Founders Capital and Indus Valley Capital. Reports said the deal is among Pakistan’s largest-ever seed rounds, with Bazaar planning to deploy the funding to expand its team, invest in systems and products, and develop new features including the possibility of inventory payments and sales.

Arca

U.S.-based Arca is an asset management startup that aims to connect investors with technology to invest in digital assets via blockchain. The company recently announced a $10 million Series A investment round led by RRE Ventures, while several other backers also participated, a press release said. Arca said it plans to use the investment to continue building out its infrastructure, bolster its regulatory compliance capabilities, and create enhanced asset management solutions.

Indy

Accounting automation company Georges, based in France, landed $42.4 million in fresh funding, TechCrunch reported. Along with the new money comes a new name as the firm has rebranded to Indy. Reports said Singular led the latest investment round, while existing backers also participated. Focused on entrepreneurs and independent contractors, Indy automates a range of financial management workflows including bank account integration, spend and expense categorization, receipt collection, VAT calculation and more. With the new funding, Indy said it will invest in its product and continue to expand the kinds of businesses it serves, while also considering the U.S. in its geographic expansion plans.

Personio

Germany’s Personio comes in second place in week’s B2B venture capital roundup with its $125 million funding round valuing the company at $1.7 billion, Times of India reported recently. The company connects businesses to human resources management technology, including payroll solutions, with a price-per-employee model that aims to make itself accessible for smaller businesses. Backers at existing investors Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northzone, Global Founders Capital and Picus participated in the round.

TripActions

Leading the pack this week is TripActions, a corporate travel and expense management startup that secured an impressive $155 million from investors, despite the continued slump in business travel. The firm revealed in a blog post that the Series E investment, which values the company at $5 million, was led by Andreessen Horowitz, Addition Ventures and Elad Gil. Existing backers Zeev Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Greenoaks Capital also participated. TripActions noted that it has spent the last year investing in new product functionality with a focus on traveler safety, as well as cost savings and global T&E tools.