American Express Ventures Invests In API Platform Cloud Elements

Cloud Elements, a platform offering application program interface (API) integration solutions, secured an investment from the venture capital (VC) arm of American Express (Amex), the company said in a press release issued Tuesday (Oct. 30).

American Express Ventures made a strategic investment in the company alongside existing backers: Harbert Growth Partners, Rally Ventures, Access Ventures and Grotech Ventures. Cloud Elements did not reveal how much it raised.

In a statement, Amex Ventures Managing Director Lindsay Fitzgerald said Cloud Elements addresses key challenges for businesses that are looking toward API technology to streamline operations.

“Enterprises are increasingly leveraging cloud-based services though API connections to help them run their operations,” Fitzgerald stated. “Cloud Elements helps companies simplify the process of managing their growing number of API connections with its unique ‘one-to-many’ approach to integration.”

Cloud Elements said it would use the funding to continue focusing on growth, with plans to introduce integrated digital payment solutions in the future.

“Modern business has come to rely on API-based integration to deliver new product experiences and drive efficiencies in their day-to-day operations,” said Cloud Elements Co-founder and CEO Mark Geene. “This new investment helps fuel the next stage of our growth in the fast-growing cloud integration market, and recognizes our leadership role as the only integration platform designed for software providers and digital enterprises.”

Other recent investments from Amex Ventures includes funding for EverCompliant, a startup providing anti-money laundering (AML) technology, announced in March. The VC outfit also backed insurtech startup Next Insurance last year.

American Express Ventures’ investment in Cloud Elements signals the firm’s focus on API integrations, as more enterprises explore how to wield API technology to support integration and communication between their various cloud-based systems. Recent analysis from PYMNTS in the B2B API Tracker also pointed to the ability for API technology to bridge legacy and new technologies within the enterprise, which can ease friction in corporates’ digitization efforts.