B2B eCommerce Platform Oro Raises $13M

Oro has raised $13 million to help businesses enhance their B2B eCommerce offerings.

“This investment will allow us to continue our mission in helping transform companies, digitizing their sales process, and expand to new markets,” Yoav Kutner, Oro’s CEO, said in a Thursday (Jan. 19) news release.

“As for us, we’ll be able to unlock more opportunities, and invest in our product, sales, marketing, and partner network,” added Kutner, who was one of the co-founders of the open-source eCommerce company Magento.

Founded in 2012, the Los Angeles-based company introduced its OroCommerce eCommerce platform in 2017, with an updated version arriving last year.

The company said it has more than 150 customers worldwide, who turn to Oro for services that include its B2B (business-to-business) eCommerce platform and its customer relationship management solution.

The funding round comes as B2B companies are facing higher customer standards for their payment offerings.

Research by PYMNTS has shown that the rise of eCommerce has led customers to raise their expectations for simple, transparent, secure digital payment experiences in their transactions, whether those transactions are B2B or B2C (business to consumer).

The growth of B2B eCommerce has been fueled in part by the digitally savvy millennials who are taking on managerial positions that give them purchasing authority.

These professionals are comfortable with digital payment and self-service capabilities, and as such have essentially abandoned traditional modes of purchasing goods, according to “The New Singularity,” a collaboration between PYMNTS and USEND.

B2B transactions often come with a higher price tag than B2C ones, which means wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers must double down on fostering trust and high-touch payment experiences while also capitalizing on the efficiency that digitization brings, the report said.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS reported last week that a growing number of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are eager to try out tech for the B2B side of their business that improves accounts receivable (AR), especially as they apply to cross-border payments.

That sentiment is backed by research in the new PYMNTS and Payoneer report, “International B2B Payments: A Guide for Entrepreneurs and Digital Businesses,” which showed that 77% of SMBs were unhappy with their current cross-border payment solutions.

According to the same PYMNTS research, 93% of businesses reported they were “very or extremely willing” to add technologies that make B2B payments feel more like B2C payments.

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