Rainforest, a Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) platform, announced the closing of an $11.75 million seed funding round led by Accel, with participation from Infinity Ventures, BoxGroup, The Fintech Fund, Tech Square Ventures, Ardent Venture Partners and a number of strategic angels.
The investment round includes “a $3.25 million venture debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank.”
Rainforest built an embedded payments solution “designed specifically for software platforms’ monetization of money flows.” It’s a unique approach because platforms “get the best of both worlds: great economics and low operational/compliance burdens. And in an industry first,”
Rainforest offers contractual merchant portability, “backed by expert, white glove service that supports platforms’ long-term success and adoption goals.”
Accel backs industry vets reuniting “to reimagine embedded payments for software platforms.”
.Analysts project that “by 2030, nearly 75% of consumer payments will no longer be processed directly by banks.”
While enterprise companies have deep pockets to build in-house payments and technology teams, that’s not “the case for more than 10,000 software firms eager to embed and monetize payments.”
Unlike Rainforest, most payment providers are “built for direct merchants instead of software platforms and don’t help these platforms navigate the complexities of risk management and compliance. Further exacerbating the problem is a dearth of qualified payment experts.”
Joshua Silver, Rainforest founder and CEO, said:
“First as a healthcare software company founder and then as a payments consultant, I personally experienced the challenges and tradeoffs associated with embedded payments. I recruited former colleagues and other all-star payments and SaaS veterans, and together we built Rainforest – the embedded payments platform we always wanted but didn’t exist.”
He continued:
“It’s gratifying to have the backing of leading investors who value our differentiated approach, as well as the opportunity to set a new industry standard. It’s equally rewarding to have incredible clients – RoadSync, PayGround, Rose Rocket, Curae, QuoteMachine and many more – who appreciate our robust product, consultative service model, and expertise.”
Rainforest quickly gained product-market fit “since its founding in early 2022.”
Shortly after launch, Rainforest secured client commitments “representing more than $500 million in processing, with much of the volume guaranteed.”
The company is seeing traction “with industries ranging from healthcare, non-profit, field and professional services and niche retailers to trucking and logistics, construction, and association management.”
Proceeds from the raise will support continued investment “in the team and product, with a singular focus on helping software platforms drive revenue and improve retention while enabling their customers to accept and send payments.”