Funding Watch is LSA Insider’s series that tracks funding to SMB-focused startups and tech providers. See the rest of the series here.
Things continue to heat up in SMB Saas. For those unfamiliar, this sector is represented by companies that build software tools for small businesses. It’s everything from “front of the house” marketing and customer acquisition tools, to “back of the house,” operational management (think: payroll).
This is a wide range of companies and opportunities as we examine in an upcoming white paper. And while following the sector on an ongoing basis, we’re struck by the level of venture funding it’s receiving. So for the latest in our Funding Watch series, we’re rounding up recent SMB-Saas funding inflows.
Following our last funding roundup, below is a sampling of the funding action in December (listed in order of funding amount). Based on the size of the list, we’re splitting it into two parts and will be back next week with Part II… including any funding that happens in the interim.
Produce Pay: $190 million (debt financing)
Los Angeles-based ProducePay offers financing and cash advances to farmers — a business known for lumpy revenue streams. It received a $190 million debt facility from CoVenture and TCM Capital.
Passport: $65 million
Passport offers a streamlined ticketing and management system for parking, offered to SMBs with parking operations (venues, parking garages, etc.). It raised $65 million from Rho Capital Partners and H.I.G., bringing its lifetime funding total to $125 million.
Zetwerk: $32 million
Zetwerk is an Indian B2B marketplace for SMBs to acquire manufacturing items. It raised a $32 million Series B led by Lightspeed and Greenoaks Capital with participation from Accel, Sequoia India and Kae Capital.
Loom: $30 million
Loom is like Zoom but for asynchronous video. It lets SMBs send quick multimedia clips to explain things to colleagues or employees who can watch it later. It raised a $30 million Series B led by Sequoia and joined by Kleiner Perkins, Dylan Field, Mathilde Collin, and Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.
Pricefx: €23 million
Munich-based Pricefx provides an AI-powered tool for SMBs to gain big-business intelligence for their product pricing strategies. It raised €23 million in additional funding as part of its earlier Series B round (bringing the total round to €48 million).
Rapyd: $20 million
Rapyd has an API that democratizes fintech functions for businesses of all sizes. This includes payments, checkout, funds collection, disbursements, compliance and foreign exchange. It raised $20 million from Durable Capital Partners for a post-money valuation of $1.2 billion.
Georgias: $14 million
Gorgias provides an AI-powered and Shopify-compatible customer service tool for eCommerce-based SMBs. It raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Flex Capital, with participation of SaaStr, Alven, CRV, Amplify Partners and Eric Yuan.
Route: $12 million
Route equips eCommerce merchants with a tool for their customers to track product orders more thoroughly, and provide extras like insurance. It raised a $12 million seed round from Peak Venture Capital, Album VC and Pattern.
Vivun: $3 million
Vivun, is like CRM for pre-sales. It helps SMBs manage pre-sales, including demo material and contact management. It announced a $3 million seed round led by Unusual Ventures.
Fulcrum: $1 million
Fulcrum connects SMBs with talent for project-based technical work, replacing job recruitment or costly consulting firms. It raised a $1 million in a seed round led by Greatscale Ventures with participation from private co-investors.
We’ll return next week for Part II of this series, and be back in the coming weeks to drill down on some of the above companies Meanwhile, we’ll be watching their progress and impact on the expanding SMB SaaS universe.
