B2B Venture Capital Spans SMB Banking, V-Cards, Global Payments And More

Investors backed a range of B2B FinTechs this week operating in areas including accounting, cross-border payments, virtual cards, expense management, cybersecurity and more. In total, more than $68 million in venture capital was announced — but that’s not counting the $130 million round for one U.K. FinTech gearing up to launch small business banking services. Below, find the latest in B2B venture capital funding.

Back Office

With $1.8 million in seed funding, Back Office, based in Florida, plans to enhance the technology behind its small business accounting automation tool. The firm secured the funding from Active Capital, 500 Fintech, PlugNPlay Ventures and a range of angel investors, Back Office said in an announcement, adding that it plans to also use the investment to expand operations and introduce a range of add-on services like financing and bill payment for its SMB users.

Buckzy Payments

Also securing seed money this week is Buckzy Payments, a Canadian startup addressing friction in the cross-border payments space by linking payers to its own real-time international payments network. The company raised $1.75 million from Minstral Venture Partners and Revel Partners, according to a press release, which Buckzy will use to focus on providing both businesses and consumers with access to lower foreign exchange rates and greater visibility into their cross-border payments. The company enables money to arrive to recipients in less than five minutes.

Embroker

As part of the fast-growing insurtech market, Embroker targets corporates in need of insurance policies. The California startup announced $28 million in Series B funding this week, according to VentureBeat reports, led by Tola Capital. Existing backers Canaan Partners, Bee Partners, Manulife Capital Vetures, Nyca Partners and XL Innovate also participated. Embroker plans to use the funding to fuel expansion of its online insurance match-making platform designed to accelerate and streamline the process by with companies choose insurance policies.

Extend

Point72 Ventures and FinTech Collective have led an $11 million Series A funding round for Extend, a company that enables businesses to use virtual cards for employee and contractor expenses. Reciprocal Ventures and City National Bank also participated, reports this week said, with Extend planning to use the investment to collaborate with more bank partners, introduce new features to its mobile app and APIs, and expand its engineering, marketing and operational teams.

Cashfree

India corporate banking startup Cashfree announced $5.5 million in Series A funding, TechCrunch reported this week, with the funding led by Smilegate Investment. Y Combinator also participated, reports said. Cashfree first began as a payment gateway but eventually pivoted to provide companies with bulk payment services to facilitate vendor payments, payroll transactions and more. The firm connects business users to a single interface to gain greater visibility and control into their high-volume payments, while providing data analytics and business intelligence. Reports said the company plans to use the funding to focus on the side of the business that works with banks, and to expand integration capability.

RiskLens

With $20.55 million fresh in the bank, cybersecurity SaaS company RiskLens, formerly named Cxoware, will expand sales, marketing, engineering and professional services capabilities, reports said. The company secured the Series B funding from Paladin Capital, while Dell Technologies Capital, Osage Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital and MassMutual Ventures also participated. RiskLens offers solutions for organizations to analyze, manage and report on their cyber risks by quantifying that threat and relaying its analysis based on dollars and cents.

Monzo

The $130 million investment for U.K. digital banking startup Monzo makes the company the big winner in this week’s investment roundup. The company’s investment, reported by The Guardian, is not yet official, but is reportedly set to double the company’s valuation to $2.6 billion. Initial reports did not reveal who the investor is, though noted they are based in the U.S. Later reports in TechCrunch said the investor is Y Combinator. As Monzo continues to expand and raise new capital, the firm is also reportedly planning to introduce small and medium-sized business banking services in addition to its existing mobile-based personal banking offering, and launched SMB banking tests earlier this year.