Billtrust Acquired Second Phase

B2B cash-order solution provider Billtrust announced this morning it has acquired B2B eCommerce wholesale distributor Second Phase.  The acquisition, according to a release, will allow Billtrust greater range in digitizing and streamlining the order-to-cash process for businesses.

The U.S. B2B eCommerce sector will be a $1.8 trillion market by 2023, according to Forrester estimates; Bank of America projects there will be a total addressable market for eCommerce B2B of $1.4 trillion by 2021.  Consumer eCommerce, by comparison, will be worth an estimated $761 billion.

“We are very pleased to welcome the Second Phase team to Billtrust. By adding adjacent functionality, this acquisition enhances our capabilities in the order-to-cash cycle and delivers valuable business outcomes to our important wholesale distributor customer segment,” said Steve Pinado, president at Billtrust.

Boulder-based Second Phase offers an SaaS solution for wholesale eCommerce distributors aimed at increasing profitability no matter what their relative size.  The solution is reportedly turnkey and requires minimal integration and is currently used by wholesale buying groups such as IMARK Electrical, IMARK Plumbing and BLUEHAWK.

“We are excited to join the Billtrust solution portfolio, enhancing our ability to more broadly serve our existing customers and accelerate our growth,” said Mark Kostovny, founder and CEO at Second Phase.

The latest acquisition comes as part of Billtrust’s ongoing effort to once and for all kill the paper check in B2B business processes.  Payments in business, CEO Flint Lane told Karen Webster on the eve of the launch of Billtrust’s Business Payments Network, has a last-mile problem that keeps it chained to the check.

“That is why we are swimming in paper, because no one has solved that last-mile problem for the delivery of payments to the supplier,” he noted at the time.

The more functionality they add to clear that last mile, he noted, the quicker the check can be allowed to finally die off once and for all.