Citi, PayPal Names Add Spark To B2B Funding Rounds

The B2B financial services startup sector is rarely graced with a venture capital flood — and the media attention that comes along with it. This week, amid the earnings reports bonanza, the sector saw a welcome spike in investment activity, boosted by some big names.

Players associated with PayPal and Citibank, for instance, all took the stage in B2B venture capital, and we’re sure these names will add a boost to the value of those funding rounds. We break down how more than $42 million worth of investment landed across India, the U.S. and Europe.

SME Accounting

ClearTax

Don’t let the name fool you. India-based ClearTax provides more than just tax services to SMEs and consumers, and the company, fresh with $1.3 million in seed funding, will reportedly be going after the small business space more aggressively and roll out new products.

Among them: financial services and accounting tools for SMEs in India.

“We are in the process of launching new products, catering to our SME and enterprise clientele, which will focus on invoicing and payroll,” said ClearTax Chief Executive Archit Gupta in a statement. “Our mobile app will be out next month as well.”

The investment, announced on Tuesday (April 26), was led by PayPal Cofounder Max Levchin, as well as Scott Banister, an early investor in companies such as Uber and Facebook.

SME Lending

Lendix

A $13.5 million Series B investment round went to France-based Lendix, a marketplace lending platform that targets small and medium-sized businesses. According to reports on Tuesday, Lendix said it will use the backing to expand into Spain and, eventually, across Europe.

CNP Assurances led the funding round, and according to Head of Private Equity Investments Hélène Falchier, the investment was a bit of a groundbreaker for the firm.

“This first investment in the FinTech sector is based on our confidence in Lendix’s ability to expand its leading position in France but also in other markets in Continental Europe,” Falchier stated.

BlueVine

Invoice financing platforms continue to attract investors as BlueVine, only weeks after a $40 million funding round, announced that Citi Ventures — the venture capital arm of Citibank — provided its own funding to the startup, reports said on Wednesday (April 27).

While Citi did not disclose how much it provided, the name alone can serve as a valuable bump to the cloud-based factoring platform. BlueVine Founder and CEO Eyal Lifshitz pointed to Citi Ventures’ existing portfolio, with names like Square and DocuSign, as evidence that the investment firm backs companies that prove to be top disruptors in their field.

“We are honored to have them as a strategic investor and believe this further validates BlueVine as the leading small business solution for working capital financing,” the CEO said in a statement.

Enterprise Security

Seclore

A $12 million investment landed at Seclore this week, said reports on Wednesday. The company provides security and anti-data theft solutions for corporations. The Indian startup already provides these solutions to top names, like General Electric’s venture capital unit and Tata Group.

According to reports, Seclore has attracted attention for its solutions that can work across channels, meaning companies that keep documents and data stored on servers, mobile devices or in the cloud can be protected by a single service.

The startup, which also bases operations in the U.S., saw its Series B funding led by Helion Ventures, VentureEast, Sistema Asia Fund and India Alternatives, reports said. The investment will help Seclore expand operations; its top customer markets include enterprises in the financial services, manufacturing and insurance spaces.

ePayments

TranServ

India landed on the board again with TranServ, a digital payments company that raised $15 million in Series C funding, reports said on Monday (April 25). The backing was led by IDFC Spice Fund and Micromax Informatics, with existing supporters Nirvana and Faering Capital India also taking part.

While TranServ operates in the consumer space, the company provides B2B services. The funding will help the company develop new tools for its API, for example, and launch a service to provide companies with online meal vouchers for their employees. TranServ is also planning a micro-loan service, though it is unclear whether it will be targeted towards consumers or businesses.