San Francisco, CA, Nov. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fundbox, the AI-powered financial platform for small businesses, announced it has closed a $100M Series D funding round at a valuation of $1.1 billion. This latest round was led by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), joined by existing investors Allianz X, Khosla Ventures, and The Private Shares Fund, and brought in new investors including Arbor Waypoint Select Fund and a suite of BNY Mellon funds managed by Newton Investment Management North America. The financing was driven by the company’s record-setting performance metrics, including crossing a $100 million annual revenue run rate and new customer acquisition growth of over 200% thus far this year, and Fundbox’s platform expansion into payments.
Through an intense focus on partnerships, customer acquisition initiatives, and new products, Fundbox achieved record levels of growth fueling the small business rebound, particularly within the smaller end of small businesses. Fundbox also shared that it has surpassed $2.5 billion in transaction volume and connected with over 325,000 businesses since its founding in 2013.
“Over the past two years, we’ve seen how critical small businesses are to powering the economy. At the same time, we’ve seen a rise in innovative financing approaches that have greatly impacted consumer behavior,” says Shrirang Apte, VP, HOOPP. “Fundbox’s strong performance this year speaks to the market opportunity in disrupting the highly underserved world of small business financing, which has traditionally lagged behind consumer financing innovations. As a result, Fundbox is well positioned to unlock growth for small businesses and help support the country’s economic recovery.”
Expansion Into Small Business Payments and Membership-Based Offerings
As a next step towards building a comprehensive suite of financial tools that serve the needs of small business owners, Fundbox is expanding its product platform and moving into payments with the launch of Flex Pay. Flex Pay is designed to provide small business owners with additional payment options and flexibility for business expenses, and Fundbox Line of Credit customers now get three extra days to pay those expenses. Repayment options include a bank account, credit card, or Line of Credit draw, providing small business owners with another tool to buy now, pay later.
Fundbox is continuing to innovate with additional financial products on the roadmap and in development for launch in 2022, including one that is expected to generate a subscription revenue stream, and a product that’s designed specifically for entrepreneurs with multiple small businesses and new businesses that lack the financial history to access capital through traditional means.
"Fundbox is primed for continued growth as we approach a once-in-a-decade opportunity to drive the recovery and expansion of the small business economy,” said Fundbox CEO Prashant Fuloria. “The addition of Flex Pay to our product offerings is critical as small business owners look to utilize buy now, pay later solutions for business. We remain committed to leveraging our superior AI, data-native approach, and small business insights to solve working capital needs and power the resurgence of the small business economy.”
Scaling the Senior Leadership Team
Additionally, the company is expanding its executive bench with new hires in partnerships, growth, sales and operations, and finance. The new hires include:
- Khary Scott, VP and Head of Partnerships, to oversee the company’s partnerships and business development approach. He joins after 15 years at Capital One, where he led a team that executed partnerships that totaled over $20B in assets.
- Renuka Nayani, VP of Finance, to lead the Strategic Finance, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), and corporate development teams. She previously spent six years leading the Personal Loans FP&A team at Oportun.
- Rina Jariwala, VP of Sales and Operations and GM of Dallas, who joins Fundbox with over 19 years of leadership experience in the valuation and credit space, including roles at Countrywide Home Loans, Bank of America, and CoreLogic.
- Shawn Haigh, VP of Growth Marketing, who joins after 16 years at Capital One, where he led growth initiatives across consumer and business banking organizations.
Fundbox is an AI-powered financial platform that provides small businesses with fast and easy access to financial tools and resources. The company solves working capital needs through credit and payments solutions and aims to unlock growth for millions of small businesses.
About Fundbox
Fundbox is an AI-powered financial platform that provides small businesses with fast and easy access to financial tools and resources. The company solves working capital needs through credit and payments solutions and has connected with over 325,000 businesses, unlocking more than $2.5B in working capital, and invested $100M into AI technology, gaining deep insights into the small business ecosystem. Fundbox has received numerous awards including the Forbes AI 50, CB Insights Fintech 250, and Fintech Breakthrough Awards. Learn more at fundbox.com.
