Global B2B Payments FinTech Leads VC Funding

With only four investment rounds, B2B FinTechs were able to secure more than $181 million in fresh funding — an impressive sum amid turbulent times. Venture capitalists focused their support on corporate lending, payroll and accounts payable technologies, but it was a cross-border B2B payments company that landed the lion’s share of this week’s VC funding.

Cerebro Capital

While it’s not disclosing how much it raised, Cerebro Capital said it plans to expand its marketplace with new venture capital that aims to help corporates source and manage their loans. Ulu Ventures and Grotech Ventures co-led the round, Cerebro said, which closed late last month; Sterling Partners, Inner Loop Capital and Point Field Partners also participated, according to reports.

The platform is designed for both corporate borrowers and their lenders, integrating both sourcing and loan management into a single solution. In addition to expanding its marketplace, the startup said it plans to expand its ability to streamline the corporate lending process for both banks and non-bank lenders.

Everee

With $10 million in Series A funding, payroll technology company Everee aims to enable small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to match up their payroll cycles with their overall cash flow. The company integrates various features that enable employees to retain greater control over payroll, including deciding whether they would like to get paid daily or weekly, or access earned wages before payday.

In a press release, Everee noted Origin Ventures and Signal Peak Ventures co-led the investment round, which will go towards product development and investments in sales and marketing.

Previse

Invoice process automation firm Previse announced $11 million in new funding his week led by Reefknot Investments and Mastercard, while existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Hambro Perks and Augmentum Fintech also participated.

Previse integrates artificial intelligence into its platform for accounts payable departments to automate supplier invoice processing and automatically pay those that don’t need manual interventions. For exceptions, the platform routes the document for human intervention. By streamlining invoice processing, Previse said, it reduces friction for AP teams so small suppliers can get paid more quickly.

The startup said it will use the investment to focus on continued growth and expand access to its InstantPay instant payments capabilities for more large corporates.

Airwallex

Leading the pack this week is Airwallex, which secured $160 million in Series D funding as it looks to broaden its cross-border payments offerings.

Its largest funding round so far, the investment was provided by ANZi Ventures and Salesforce Ventures, while existing backers DST Global, Tencent, Sequoia Capital China, Hillhouse Capital and Horizons Ventures also participated, Airwallex said on its website.

The company outlined its plans for the investment, which include accelerating global expansion via customer acquisition strategies in Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East, as well as expanding payment acceptance capabilities and exploring potential strategic acquisitions.

Airwallex completed its Series C funding last year and, more recently, announced several partnerships this year focused on corporate cross-border payments.

In February the company secured a deal with Visa to launch the Airwallex Borderless Card for businesses, then announced a partnership with i2c to further augment the cross-border commercial card solution.

Most recently, Airwallex revealed its partnership with Xero to enable small business users of the cloud accounting platform to more efficiently conduct local and global payments while integrating transaction data into Xero.