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Corporate card and expense automation platform Ramp raised $750M in debt and equity financing. The incoming investment values the New York-based company at $8.1B. Founders Fund is leading the $200M equity financing tranche. Citi and Goldman Sachs have provided the $550M debt financing, with the former financing a $300M tranche. More: - The startup has raised over $1B in total funding since its founding in March 2019.
- The recent funding saw participation from General Catalyst, Avenir Growth, 137 Ventures, and Declaration Partners, who joined returning investors D1 Capital Partners, Coatue Management, Iconiq, and others.
- Its valuation doubled since the $300M Series C fundraise in Aug. 2021 – when Ramp was valued at $3.95B – as the company’s revenue soared 10 times last year.
- In 2021, Ramp’s platform processed $5B worth of annual payments volume from over 5,000 businesses mapped on its platform.
- Incoming funds will be used for strategic M&A opportunities, hiring, opening new offices in Miami, and expansion into new verticals.
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California-based retail eCommerce management platform CommerceIQ secured $115M Series D investment. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the recent financing, which valued the startup at over $1B. The startup has raised $175M in the last 12 months, of which $60M Series C was secured in June 2021. More: - Other investors in the fundraiser included Insight Partners, Trinity Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and Madrona Venture Group.
- CommerceIQ will utilize the incoming funds to scale operations globally and develop its Retail eCommerce Management Platform.
- The eCommerce startup has reportedly helped 2,200 brands to maximize sales on major online retail channels, namely Amazon, Walmart.com, and Instacart.
- It claims that customers have seen an average revenue growth of 18% by increasing their brand presence, preventing stock shortages, and minimizing revenue leakages.
- The startup has raised $196M in total funding to date.
- SoftBank Investment Advisers partner Priya Saiprasad joins the board of directors as part of the investment.
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Finally secured a $95M Series A debt and equity financing. PeakSpan Capital led the investment with participation from Active Capital, 500 FinTech, and GTMfund. The company automates back-end accounting and finance functions for small businesses. More: - The debt tranche, which accounts for $85M of the Series A round, was provided by Clear Haven Capital.
- Finally works with over 2,000 SME businesses, managing over $2B in transactions.
- The fintech startup will launch a corporate credit card, add additional credit products, and expand the team with the incoming funds.
- It aims to make $1B available in credit.
- The company witnessed triple-digit revenue growth in the past two years.
- At the same time, its team size increased from 12 to 100.
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ClearBank secured a $230M (£175M) investment from Apax Partners, the sole investor in the funding round. The company offers faster payment transactions and is used by 200 large companies, including Tide, Oaknorth, Coinbase, and Gemini. Its customer base in the U.K. includes over 13 million bank accounts amounting to ~$4B in assets. More: - Per Techcrunch, the current valuation of the fintech startup is estimated to be ~$590M.
- In Dec. 2021, the firm was valued at $360M (£274M).
- ClearBank had raised $256M (£195M) in funding prior to the recent investment.
- Notable investors in the U.K.-based startup include PPF Group, Northern Private Capital, and Canadian businessman John Risley.
- Incoming funds will be used for market expansion and venturing into new verticals, including a cryptocurrency exchange.
- It launched multi-currency and foreign exchange services for its U.K. customers a few months ago.
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AI-based CRM solutions provider Glia received a $45M Series D investment at a $1B valuation. The financing was led by Insight Partners with backing from previous investors Wildcat Capital Management and RingCentral. More: - The New York and Estonia-headquartered company has raised $150M in total funding to date.
- It last raised a $78M Series C round in Jan. 2021.
- The company’s CRM platform is primarily used by finance industry clients, leveraging the platform for customer service.
- It is developing a conversational AI to directly interact with customers and aid customer service agents.
- Glia reportedly has handled over 10 billion transactions through its platform.
- The company’s revenue rose 150% in 2021 compared to the year prior.
- Incoming funds will be used to accelerate the development of AI-assisted tools and expand reach.
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California-based Bionic secured $65M Series B financing. The funding round saw participation from Cyberstarts and Battery Ventures, and was led by Insight Partners. Bionic’s Application Security Posture Management platform analyzes the entire application architecture to reduce security, data privacy, and other associated risks. More: - Bionic assists clients in de-risking their application security posture at the same time accelerating their digital transformation projects.
- The company’s clientele includes notable customers such as GSK, Armis, Chipotle, Inspire Brands, and others.
- The incoming investment will be used to accelerate the R&D program and scale sales and customer success teams.
- The company was founded in 2019 by Idan Ninyo and Eyal Mamo and emerged from stealth in Dec. 2020.
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- GRO Capital closed its third fund at $663M (€600M). The fund will target established B2B software companies across Europe. The VC firm currently has over $1.1B (€1B) in assets under management.
- China-based NIO Capital closed its second oversubscribed fund at ~$400M. The fund will focus on ventures focussing on decarbonization and digitization across automotive, technology, and energy sectors.
- Three of Egypt’s largest national banks joined forces to form a new venture fund called Nclude with a focus on fintech in the Middle East and Africa that could help “bolster the Egyptian economy.” The initial fund size is set at $85M with investments from Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt, and Banque du Caire.
- Illinois-based virtual care management platform TimeDoc Health raised $48.5M in Series B funding. Aldrich Capital Partners led the funding round.
- Strategy execution platform Cascade announced it had raised $29M in Series A funding led by Telescope Partners. Incoming funds will help accelerate the product development and expand operations in North America and Europe.
- Plotlogic, a hyperspectral imaging solution for use in mine operations, raised $18M Series A financing led by Innovation Endeavors. The funding will be used to expand globally and boost commercial deployments.
- 75% of businesses in the U.S. are underinsured by 40% or more. Find out if you’re one of them.*
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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