Citi Makes B2B Play With HighRadius Investment

Citi Ventures, the venture capital arm of Citi, has reportedly made an investment in B2B payments and receivables management company HighRadius, reports said Wednesday (Feb 14).

Citi Ventures was joined by PNC in the funding round, though an announcement by the firms did not reveal how much was placed in HighRadius. The funding follows FinTech’s $50 million growth equity raise secured last September by Susquehanna Growth Equity.

HighRadius aims to infuse the B2B payments process with technology in order to address the fact that about half of B2B transactions in the U.S. occur via paper checks. The company is integrating artificial intelligence (AI), cloud technology and real-time payments into its solution to automate B2B payments and accounts receivable processes.

“The digitization, fragmentation and atomization of payments are growing rapidly and increasing in complexity,” said Citi Ventures Managing Director of Venture Investing, Luis Valdich. “HighRadius’ platform is purpose-built to modernize the accounts receivable function for the enterprise. We look forward to collaborating with HighRadius to revamp receivables with AI and automation technologies.”

“Treasury management has a long history of helping customers accelerate incoming payment processing while simplifying the account process through a combination of lockbox and electronic billing and collection services,” added Christopher Ward, Executive Vice President and Head of Product Management of PNC Treasury Management. “With HighRadius’ receivables-focused technology, we are able to automate cash applications across all payment and remittance formats, allowing them to achieve straight-through processing and capture high-quality data without human intervention.”

HighRadius founder and CEO Sashi Narahari, meanwhile, likened AR automation to autonomous vehicles. “If cars can drive themselves, why can’t receivables be processed automatically?” the executive stated. “Progressive organizations recognize they must look for new ways to incorporate technology rather than simply overseeing a race to the lowest cost resources in far-flung BPO centers.”

Last December, Citi expanded its cross-border ACH capabilities for corporate treasurers in another push to enhance its B2B payments offering.