B2B Investment Tracker, July 3-10

The Breakdown:

Alternative Lending: $40M+
Cash Flow Management: $105M+
B2B eCommerce: $2.5M

Investments flowed into a little bit of everything this past week as B2B startups secured nearly $150 million in support through venture capital backing and mergers. The biggest winners of the week were the startups innovating new ways to help other companies manage their money, whether through expense management, corporate cards, or e-invoice management. Chrome River took first place with a massive backing in the firm’s T&E management services. Find out how much they raised, and who else won over investor support, in this week’s B2B Investment Tracker. 

Alt Lending: $40M+

Veteran factor financing firm LSQ revealed Monday (July 6) that it secured $40 million in investment by Ares Capital Corporation. According to LSQ Funding CEO and founder Max Eliscu, the funds will be used to accelerate company efforts to reinvent the way micro, small and midsized businesses access working capital financing. Reports said that investors placed their confidence in LSQ because of its dedication to technology and intellectual property, which has also led to strategic partnerships between the company and traditional banks. Since its founding, LSQ reportedly facilitated more than $10 billion in invoice financing.

India-based FinTech startup IndiaLends secured seed funding by DSG Consumer Partners and angel investors, though the amount of the backing was not made public. Reports announced the fundraising Thursday (July 9) will help the company, launched just last March, to develop more sophisticated risk assessment and credit scoring techniques.

“Lending in India is primarily based on a single credit score which means that the majority of the people in the country find it difficult to secure loans,” explained co-founder Gaurav Chopra, who started the business with Mayank Kachhwaha after the duo worked together at Capital One. “Moreover, it can take anywhere between two and 10 days for institutions to make credit assessment.”

The executive went on to explain that at Capital One, an array of data points contributed to risk assessment. Not only does IndiaLends’ algorithms and data analysis technology help borrowers to more quickly get approved for loans, but the company is also lending its services to other financial institutions, too.

Cash Flow Management: $105M+

The week began with news that expense management service provider Chrome River secured an impressive $100 million in Series D funding – the largest of the week — which will be used to innovate in the T&E management space and to bring Chrome River into new jurisdictions. Its plans include developing mobile capabilities for its invoice and expensing tools, and exploring entry into the U.K. and Europe following its recent expansion into Canada.

For Chrome River CEO Alan Rich, the backing is support for the company’s unique philosophy on developing expense management solutions for businesses. “They want to roll out something and not seem as if, ‘Finance is shoving this down our throats,’ but instead say, ‘Finance is rolling out this cool new tool to make our lives better,’” Rich said in an interview.

Also on Monday, the expense management software offered by Coupa got a boost when it was reported that Coupa reached a deal to acquire Australia-based InvoiceSmash, which allows companies to easily convert emailed invoices into a format compatible with their existing Accounts Payable operations. Coupa CEO Rob Bernshteyn said the takeover will add new capabilities to Coupa’s Software-as-a-Service spend management tools by providing a faster way for companies not only to process invoices, but to access the data in them. Financial terms of the buyout were not reported.

Karmic Labs, whose expense management platform, Dash, emerged from beta phase earlier this year, announced Wednesday (July 8) that it has secured $5 million from investors to help extend Dash’s reach to corporate clients. The platform provides spend controls and provides companies with an unlimited number of MasterCard corporate cards for use by their employees, all without cost (unless the card remains unused). All cards can be easily connected to the Dash platform so travel and expense managers can gain deeper, real-time insight into how employees are spending for their company.

B2B eCommerce: $2.5M

A $2.5 million investment in Indonesia-based Bizzy also came in early this week when Thailand-based Ardent Capital revealed the backing Monday, providing new funds to support the B2B eCommerce portal. Bizzy CEO Peter Goldworthy launched the company after his own challenges in the procurement space. “In particular,” he said in an interview, “I felt the entire process of sourcing, approval and shipping could easily be improved upon.”

Bizzy provides companies with the ability to shop like a person, yet access the necessary support a business needs, including the ability to streamline multiple orders from multiple suppliers. Reports said the funds will be used to expand geographically.