Startup scores $24.6M in financing
• Fintech startup FundThrough, an online invoice funding platform, has landed $ 24.6 million in its second financing round.
The funds are slated to serve two purposes: help more small business customers through technology innovation; and expand its team across the country, said Steven Uster, co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based FundThrough.
The financing was led by ScaleUP Ventures, and includes Hedgewood, Klister Credit Corp. and OnWave Ventures. As part of the transaction, FundThrough will receive $4.6 million of equity and access to an additional $ 20 million in loan capital. FundThrough received $ 2.2 million in first round funding led by Real Ventures.
“Our initial funding was used to demonstrate there is a market need for invoice funding across the small business community in Canada,” Uster said in an interview. “We’ve proven that out with the exponential growth we have experienced since we started in 2014. Now our investment will be focused on scaling up both in terms of customers and our technology.”
A good portion of the new funding will be invested in automation technologies to make the process quicker, more seamless and more appealing to a greater number of businesses. Some resources will be spent on building its channel partner network throughout the country, Uster said.
One initiative introduced this past month is direct integration with QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks. “Users can sign up for FundThrough directly through their existing accounts and get funding the same day,” he explained.
FundThrough’s technology connects to a business owner’s accounting software and bank information to assign a funding limit in just a few hours — with less than two minutes of work by the owner. To date, FundThrough has funded nearly $ 50 million of invoices.
By eliminating payment terms, businesses can use their money to buy more inventory, take on more jobs, pay staff and contractors and focus on growth. “Our goal is to change the way small businesses think about shortterm cash lines,” Uster said. “They should focus on what they do best without having to worry about payment terms.”
Postmedia Canada Network Inc., publisher of the National Post, has a strategic marketing agreement with FundThrough.