Business banking start-up Relay raises $32.2m in Bain Capital Ventures-led Series B
Relay, an online business banking and money management platform based in Toronto, Canada, has raised around $32.2 million in a Series B funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures.
Relay raises $32.2m Series B led by Bain Capital Ventures
Supported by existing investors BTV, Garage and Tapestry, with new participation from Industry Ventures, the start-up says it will utilise the fresh financing to spur product development in areas of spend management, a financial API marketplace and “smart credit products”.
Additionally, it says the raise is “the next step toward Relay’s overarching goal of delivering AI-powered predictive cash flow analytics to SMBs”, and claims the funding arrives in tandem with a six-fold increase in revenues last year.
Founded in 2018, the Relay platform is designed to “help small businesses take control of their cash flow”, according to its website, supporting several services including online current accounts, the issuance of up to 50 virtual and physical Visa debit cards, ACH transfers and payment collection tools, among other capabilities.
The start-up claims its business clients tap the service 13 times a month on average, 40% of whom rely on Relay as their primary banking platform and interact with the platform daily. It furthered its appeal to small businesses with the recent limited launch of its Visa credit card with 1.5% cashback, stating that “a line of credit is slated to come”.
“68% of US small business owners have cash flow problems,” comments Relay co-founder and CEO, Yoseph West, citing 2022 figures from Intuit QuickBooks. “Relay gives them cash flow clarity and control – what SMBs need to sustainably fuel everyday operations – by pairing financial services with software and making banking work harder for them.”
