SME Financing Platform Crowdz Raises $10M

Invoice financing platform Crowdz has landed $10 million in financing of its own, the company said in a news release.

Crowdz said it had gotten the investment in a funding round led by Citi and Global Cleantech Capital, with participation from Bold Capital Partners, TFX Ventures and Augment Ventures.

The company said it plans to work with Citi to give small- to medium-enterprises (SMEs) “rapid and efficient” access to working capital.

“The current state of the supply chain cycle for SMEs is overwhelmingly defined by fragmentation and delays, inefficiencies which cost them over $3 trillion annually,” the company said.

Based in Campbell, California, Crowdz offers what it calls an alternative financing solution that lets small businesses sell invoices to funders for financing.

Crowdz integrates with its clients’ accounting, payment processing and banking systems to allow these businesses to get paid early at competitive rates. The company’s platform includes proprietary risk scoring that gives lenders “access to attractive risk-adjusted, diversified returns, while helping to plug the SME finance gap.”

Payson E. Johnston, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said the collaboration with Citi, coupled with the investment, marks a new era for his company.

“We share Citi’s view of recurring revenue as having the potential to become a new asset class, and Crowdz’s technology — including a global receivables marketplace with risk scoring, white label for enterprises and banks, and creation of digital assets — will help enable additional investment in this area,” Johnston said.

Other companies that have partnered with Crowdz include EG Funds Management and Facebook owner Meta.

Read more: Crowdz Pilots Invoice Crowdfunding Platform InvoiceXchange

Crowdz previously launched what it called the world’s first invoice financing marketplace, InvoiceXchange. The platform allows businesses to auction off their invoices to receive invoice financing, a tool Crowdz said can address the pain point of late and unpaid invoices.