NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Behalf, the payments platform targeted at small and mid-sized businesses, today announced a Series B equity round and credit facility totaling $119M. MissionOG, an early to growth stage venture capital firm chaired by Gene Lockhart, the former CEO of MasterCard, led the equity round. Lockhart is joining the board of Behalf.
Victory Park Capital (VPC) provided a credit facility in addition to contributing to the equity round. Maverick Ventures as well as past investors Spark Capital and Sequoia Capital also participated.
Behalf will use the new funds to grow its team and increase the number and size of working capital lines it offers. Along with the funding, Behalf announced the opening of its New York City headquarters in the Flatiron District.
Behalf provides simple working capital lines to small businesses to help bridge the cash flow gap between having to pay a vendor for a purchase and the time it takes to generate revenue from that purchase. To cover this gap, Behalf pays an SMB’s vendor invoice, at a value of up to $25,000 per purchase, and the SMB then pays Behalf back in up to 150 days. The SMB receives favorable rates and terms and benefits from increased working capital. Vendors benefit from more rapid cash flow and increased sales while reducing the cost of fraud, credit losses, account management and collections.
“With this latest round of funding, we plan to increase both the pace of our product development and the size of our working capital lines. Using our credit facility provided by VPC will enable us to serve more vendors and SMB customers, especially in the industries where we have seen the most traction,” said Benjy Feinberg, CEO of Behalf. “We are also extremely excited to have Gene Lockhart added to our board. He and his team bring immense knowledge of the B2B payments space and are already proving to be active and helpful investors.”
“We are excited about the Behalf team and the opportunity in front of them,” said Gene Lockhart, chairman of MissionOG. “Most important, their solution provides a very compelling and necessary service to a segment of the market that continues to represent great value and promise. We look forward to working with Behalf to help achieve their goals.”
“Behalf is approaching SMB finance in a very unique way and is working to fill a clear void in the marketplace,” said Tom Welch, principal at VPC. “In addition to solving the SMBs’ working capital issues, Behalf also provides added value to the vendor and supplier side of the equation, which should serve to fuel growth over the near term.”
ABOUT BEHALF
Behalf funds businesses’ purchases with flexible terms, up to 150 days. After answering just four questions online, businesses can instantly qualify for $50,000, at affordable rates. Vendors grow too since we help them improve their cash flow and days outstanding. For more information visit: www.behalf.com and www.behalf.com/vendors.
ABOUT SEQUOIA
The Sequoia team helps a small number of daring founders build legendary companies. We spur them to push the boundaries of what’s possible. In partnering with Sequoia, companies benefit from our unmatched community and the lessons we’ve learned over 40 years working with Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, John Morgridge, Jerry Yang, Elon Musk, Larry Page, Jan Koum, Brian Chesky, Drew Houston, Adi Tatarko and Jack Dorsey, among many others. In aggregate, Sequoia-backed companies account for more than 20% of NASDAQ’s total value. We’re proud that their success also fuels great causes: since 2000 alone we have returned more than $10 billion to non-profits like the Ford Foundation, Mayo Clinic and MIT. For more information visit: www.sequoiacap.com.
ABOUT SPARK
Spark Capital is a venture capital firm that partners with imaginative entrepreneurs who are driven to move people with the products and experiences they create. Spark invests in startups that make products and services for consumers as well as business people. They are proud supporters of companies such as 1stdibs, AdMeld, Oculus, Slack, Superpedestrian, Tumblr, Twitter, Warby Parker, Wealthfront, and Wayfair. Spark has offices in the Back Bay in Boston, SoHo in New York City and SoMa in San Francisco. Spark Capital manages five funds with $2B under management. For more information visit: www.sparkcapital.com.
ABOUT MISSIONOG
MissionOG provides human and financial capital to early and growth stage B2B technology companies. We apply our experience and capabilities to a group of highly skilled and passionate entrepreneurs whose businesses are on the cusp of exponential growth. Headquartered in the Philadelphia region, the MissionOG Fund is managed by entrepreneurial operators who have effectively built early to growth stage businesses and guided them through successful acquisitions. For more information visit: www.missionog.com.
About MAVERICK VENTURES
Maverick Ventures is a boutique venture capital fund based in Tel Aviv focusing on growth stage Israel related technology ventures. The fund is run by former entrepreneurs with a track record and is backed solely by hand picked private strategic investors from various backgrounds, primarily from North and South America, Europe and Australia. For more information visit: www.maverick.vc.
About VICTORY PARK CAPITAL
Victory Park Capital (VPC) is a privately held registered investment advisor dedicated to alternative investing through the management of its investment vehicles. As specialists in credit and private equity investments, VPC focuses on middle market companies across a diversified range of industries. Whether as a lender or a control investor, VPC seeks to identify opportunities where it believes the potential for reward outweighs the risks entailed. Founded in 2007, VPC is headquartered in Chicago with additional resources in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. For more information visit: www.victoryparkcapital.com.
