Behalf has raised a respectable $27 million in a Series C funding round lead by Viola Growth with participation from existing investors Sequoia, MissionOG, Vintage, and Spark. Harel Beit-On, Viola Growth founder and GP, will join the Behalf Board. Behalf will use the new funding to “rapidly scale growth” of the Fintech platform.
Behalf has targeted business to business financing – a multi-trillion sector of finance that still rely largely on checks, COD or ACH transactions. The Behalf service allows purchasers and business suppliers to receive credit immediately at the point of sale and quickly settle transactions. Behalf instantly advances payment to the supplier, then collects the funds from the purchaser’s bank account on a schedule they set. This on-demand access to working capital helps suppliers and their customers do more business.The funding will help Behalf rapidly scale growth with increased investment in sales, business. The company says it has doubled revenues every six months since platform launch.
“Behalf is targeting a fast growing market of SMB payments and credit, valued by analysts in the trillions, that is underserved by banks” said Harel Beit-On. “Led by a strong founding and executive team, Behalf presents an impressive growth rate and high customer retention, by disrupting the way small businesses purchase new goods and services from their vendors of choice with clear affordable terms. We are happy to partner with the Behalf team as they embark on the next phase of growth.”
Behalf’s process is described as a simple solution of a persistent point of friction. Leveraging technology and data Behalf provides flexible credit terms that benefit both purchasers and suppliers.
As part of their growth plans, Behalf has boosted its executive bench with new hires including;
- Jorgen Bocklage, Founder of 118 118 Money in the UK and former VP of Finance at Dashlane, has been appointed Behalf’s CFO.
- Brian Kleinberg, a former EVP at American Express who has recently been advising early stage Fintech and e-commerce companies, has joined to lead Strategy.
- Crystal Eastman, another former American Express Executive who has held positions in the Card area and within the Enterprise Growth Group, signed on as Head of Marketing.
- Yaniv Shaya, who has roles at HP; Mercury Interactive; and was most recently SVP of Engineering at Imperva, has also joined to lead Engineering and Risk.
Aggressive hiring is expected to continue during the next year.
“SMBs are the unsung heroes of the US economy, producing nearly half of the US’ goods and services, responsible fortwo out of every three new jobs created, and generating the majority of innovation in the process. Yet, they are severely constrained by lack of access to working capital and their financial needs are not a focus area for traditional banks,” said Benjy Feinberg, Co-founder and CEO of Behalf. “Behalf has a simple solution, driven by data and technology, that allows us to provide well-priced and flexible credit tools to help SMBs and their suppliers grow profitably. The addition of Viola’s leadership to our team and the growth this round will fund will both help us accelerate our mission.”