Venture capital firm leads $200M investment in Texas startup
GREENWICH — Venture capital firm Oak HC/FT has announced it led a $200 million funding round for ZenBusiness, an Austin, Texas-based company that supports entrepreneurs.
Greenwich-based Oak led the Series C funding, with support from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and existing investors Cathay Innovation and Greycroft. With that investment, ZenBusiness has achieved a $1.7 billion valuation — joining the select group of “unicorn” privately held startup companies that are worth more than $1 billion.
“ZenBusiness’s fintech offerings change the game for how entrepreneurs manage and track their finances,” Oak partner Matt Streisfeld said in a statement. “By democratizing financial management, ZenBusiness is simplifying merchant services and putting financial power back in the hands of business owners. We’re thrilled to partner with ZenBusiness at a time when entrepreneurs are now more than ever in need of digital tools to help them grow and become successful.”
The new funds will support product development at Zen whose services include digital tools, fintech solutions, educational resources and customer support. Its platform has grown more than 400 percent since March 2020 and now helps more than 200,000 entrepreneurs in the U.S., according to company data. It also works with gig workers, online sellers, real estate investors, artists and freelancers.
“ZenBusiness has revolutionized the process of launching and running a successful business,” ZenBusiness founder and CEO Ross Buhrdorf said in a statement. “Like Shopify did for e-commerce, ZenBusiness is creating the categorydefining solution for the service sector, providing an easy-to-use platform with embedded fintech solutions so entrepreneurs can turn their ideas into money-making realities.”
Founded in 2014, Oak manages approximately $3.3 billion in assets. The HC/FT is an abbreviation that refers to its focus on early to “growth-stage” companies in health care and financial technology. It has maintained that strategy with the launch of its Fund IV earlier this year.
“As we think about what we want to accomplish with the new fund and the areas we invest in, health care and fintech are about 50 percent of the economy,” Oak cofounder and managing partner Annie Lamont said in an interview earlier this year.
Oak’s other investments this year have included leading roles in $54 million in funding for financial-technology firm Highnote, $98 million in funding for ecommerce provider cart.com and a $100 million round for Medicare agency Advise Health Holdings.
Among earlier investments, Oak participated in approximately $120 million in fundraising rounds last year and in 2019 for the Stamford-based health care information firm Sema4.
In July, Sema4 completed its transformation into a publicly traded company and achieved an approximately $3 billion valuation. Sema4 is the only Connecticut-headquartered company in which Oak has an active investment.
The Oak investor base includes strategic investors, fund-of-funds, corporate and public pension plans, endowments and family offices.
Oak is headquartered in the Pickwick Plaza office complex in downtown Greenwich and also has offices in Boston and San Francisco. There are approximately 30 people on the Oak team, with about 20 based in Greenwich.