Fintech firm BlueVine gets $102.5m from investors including Citi, Microsoft
California-based startup founded by Israelis in 2013 seeks to ‘revolutionize banking for small business owners’; will use funds to further build up its business banking software
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Online lender BlueVine, a startup providing banking services to small businesses, said Tuesday it has raised $102.5 million from investors including Citi Ventures and Microsoft’s venture arm M12.
The Redwood City, California-based startup founded by Israelis in 2013 will use the funds raised to further build up its business banking software, the statement said. The firm is an online invoice factoring company that enables small businesses to overcome their short-term cash flow problems. The firm helps them bridge the cash gap by selling their unpaid invoices. Firms open an account with BlueVine and typically get the funds in the same day.
The latest funding round brings the total amount of money raised by the firm to some $691 million, according to the database of Start-Up Nation Central, which tracks the industry.
The round was led by ION Crossover Partners with participation from all major existing investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, SVB Capital, Nationwide, Citi Ventures, Microsoft’s venture fund, M12, and private investors. The round also included new investors MUFG Innovation Partners Co., Ltd, O.G. Tech – Eyal Ofer’s VC, Vintage Investment Partners, ION Group, Maor Investments and additional private investors, the company said in a statement.
The firm seeks to “revolutionize banking for small business owners with a full suite of services designed specifically to meet their unique needs,” said Eyal Lifshitz, CEO and co-founder of BlueVine. “This funding further validates our mission and will help democratize true business-grade banking for small businesses who have been underserved for so long.”
The funds raised will help develop future BlueVine business banking features, helping them integrate with BlueVine’s existing working capital solutions, which have already provided over 20,000 small business owners with access to more than $2.5 billion in financing since the company’s inception, the statement said.
