Investors Pick AI, Treasury As Top Funding Targets This Week

In a bit of a mixed bag for B2B FinTech venture capital (VC), investment backers stayed fairly quiet this week, racking up nearly $90 million in funding. VC firms’ largest show of support was for artificial intelligence (AI), and there was a substantial growth equity round for a veteran treasury technology firm. But, while small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in financial services landed only minor funding rounds, investors’ interest in the space shouldn’t be ignored. Check out all the B2B FinTech companies that secured fresh investments below.

SMB Banking

Countingup
Founded by Clear Books founder Tim Fouracre, Countingup provides banking and accounting solutions for small businesses and entrepreneurs. This week, the company announced it had raised $750,000 from Frontline Ventures and other backers, which the firm will use to launch operations in the U.K. later this year, according to reports. Countingup offers digital financial services including accounting and expense management, invoicing, value-added tax (VAT) returns and more, with a particular attention on sole traders like contractors and freelancers.

Artificial Intelligence

DeePhi Tech
China’s DeePhi Tech secured an impressive $40 million from Ant Financial and Samsung Group this week in a clear show of support for the startup’s AI offering. The Series A-plus round, which also saw participation from China Merchants Capital and China Growth Capital, will go towards product development to target security surveillance and Big Data, according to reports. DeePhi Tech provides AI chipsets that can be used in portable devices to enable speech recognition and language processing, making Samsung’s interest in the company clear.

Treasury Management

GTreasury
Mainsail Partners led a $42 million growth equity round for integrated treasury management solutions provider GTreasury, the company announced this week. GTreasury will use the funding to focus on product development, customer service and international expansion. In addition to the equity, Mainsail will be working with 31-year-old GTreasury to help the company continue to grow, the firm said.

SMB Finance

Invoice Bazaar
In addition to Invoice Bazaar’s $3.9 million funding from Advance Global Capital, the UAE-based small business lender is strengthening its existing partnership with its investor to drive opportunities in the industry. Advance Global Capital provided $1.1 million to Invoice Bazaar last year, and its decision to offer even more funding reflects a growing alternative finance industry for the UAE, reports said. Invoice Bazaar provides receivables and supply chain financing solutions and said it will use the funding to attract more borrowers.

ZipLoan
India’s ZipLoan announced $3 million in fresh funding led by Matrix Partners India, reports this week said. The company plans to use the investment to add to its staff and expand into new geographic markets, as well as to enhance its underlying technology that bridges micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to loans on its platform. The company deploys its own risk analytics solution, ZipScore, to underwrite the loans, and can provide a financing decision to small business borrowers within a few minutes. Since its launch, ZipLoan has struck partnerships with several traditional lenders — including IDFC Bank — which provide financing through the ZipLoan platform.