B2B FinTech Investors Planning Ahead

Don’t let the seemingly low value of $42 million raised this week by B2B venture capital firms fool you: VC activity in the space was strong, hitting key verticals like cross-border payments and SaaS. Investors went global, too, reaching out to Australian, Chinese, U.S. and Indian firms — with future plans for more funding. Find out who’s planning ahead in our breakdown of B2B venture capital from the week below.

Cross-Border Payments

Airwallex

Cross-border payment startup Airwallex went cross-border for its latest funding round. The Australian company revealed it raised $13 million in Series A funding from Chinese internet company Tencent, while Mastercard and Sequoia Capital also participated. The firm focuses on business payments and said it will use the latest financing to build momentum for the release of its suite of APIs, and to fuel its expansion globally. Airwallex said it will focus particularly on Europe as it grows.

“The continued growth of international trade and the global economy rely on efficient cross-border transactions,” said Airwallex Chief Executive Jack Zhang in a statement. “Our mission is to eradicate the burden of international payments so that businesses can transact across borders with ease.”

SME Lending

Nav

Formerly known as Creditera, Nav, which offers small businesses an online platform through which they can find financing, announced a $13 million addition to its previously announced $25 million Series B funding round, bringing the total raised for this round up to $38 million. Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments led the investment, Nav said, while CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund, Point72 Ventures and Clocktower Technology Ventures also participated.

In addition to the new funding, the company revealed Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investment group Managing Director Rana Yared would join its board as an observer.

Big Data

IceKredit

Based in China, IceKredit wields Big Data to provide credit evaluation services for small businesses. Using machine learning technology, the company offers personal credit evaluation, anti-fraud services and other data products, while additionally providing credit assessment and online loan management tools for banks and other lenders. This week the company revealed that it had closed a Series A funding round hitting nearly $16 million at the end of last year. China Creation Ventures led the investment, while Lingfen Capital and angel investors YunQi Partners also participated, the company said. With the funds, IceKredit will focus on providing third-party risk management solutions, enabling traditional financial institutions to remain compliant with shifting credit risk control rules and providing lenders with loan management solutions.

SaaS

W2 Global Data

Series A funding landed at W2 Global Data this week, which didn’t disclose how much it raised. IT did say, though, that it will use the funding to focus on sales, marketing and technical capabilities for its U.K. and international operations. The company provides B2B Software-as-a-Service and data solutions and said Mercia Fund Management has made its largest-ever growth fund investment to the company. Finance Wales also provided funding, with additional backers including existing shareholders and Thorium Technology Investors, it noted.

“W2 has grown from strength to strength in the last few years, and this investment will allow our business to establish its position as a key world player in the field,” the firm’s CEO Warren Russell said. “We have a rapidly growing customer base, and we can support them with an expanding team creating job opportunities in the local area and further afield.”

Honorable Mentions

Power2SME

It’s not venture capital, but Power2SME is getting a sizable investment from International Finance Corporation, the private-sector investment unit of the World Bank, which revealed plans to invest as much as $10 million in Power2SME owner BEBB India. New funding would give a boost to the SME B2B eCommerce platform, which raised Series A funding in October 2012 and more funding a year later. Last year, the company secured an undisclosed amount of investment from Infosys Co-Founder Nandan Nilekani.

YL Ventures

More funding for the B2B SaaS space is likely on the way as YL Ventures revealed this week it raised $75 million for its third fund. With a focus on the B2B software space, YL Ventures fuels Israel-based startups with seed cash and said it will look to invest in two to three companies a year with the new funds.