B9 Inc, a San-Francisco-based payroll solution platform, secured $2.6M funding in a Seed+ round led by Sky Light Invest with participation from prominent fintech investors Mbanq and the founders of Wrike, a project management application.
The announcement comes a year after raising $5M in a Seed round from angel syndicates and angel investors in 2021. To date, the company has raised a total funding of $7.6M.
How will the funding be used?
The company plans to use the funds to invest in product development, specifically to release inflation-fighting and revenue-generating features that help customers underserved by the traditional banks. The US company also plans to take advantage of the recent big tech layoffs and bring new talent to scale the platform.
Payroll platform
Founded by Sergio Terentev in 2020, B9 is a payroll solution platform that helps young workers, new-to-credit working individuals, and gig workers to help build creditworthiness out of their earning and spending patterns.
The B9 app offers an on-demand payroll solution alongside a full suite of banking products, including the B9 Visa Card, checking accounts, etc.
The B9 Visa Card features up to 4% cashback and early wage access of up to 100% of the earnings a customer deposits from their paycheck, enabling customers to build their credit and navigate daily financial needs.
“While inflation is rising everywhere, it’s especially devastating to households with already tight budgets – which is why we must move at the speed of light to get these solutions across the finish line,” says B9 CEO Sergio Terentev.
He adds, “B9 is in growing demand – our customers have deposited paychecks from more than 14,000 companies, including Amazon, Walmart, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, and the U.S. Postal Service, and that number is growing rapidly. We consistently strive to provide low-income markets with the banking services they need for how they live and work today. The economic environment, which is conducive to unprecedented demand, and the quality of B9 solutions allow us to reach profitability by the end of this year, just one year after we began operations.”
In addition, this platform will help customers outside the traditional banking system get bank-grade services on excellent terms, providing financial inclusion for new people in the US.
Aggressive growth
Since last year, B9 achieved $7.5M in total funding and revenue growth from $7K to $2M ARR in just 11 months. It has additionally doubled its revenue from January 2022 to date.
Sky Light Invest is a private equity, mezzanine, and venture-capital firm, a part of Sky Light Investment holding, with over $500M AUM. The company provides growth capital to fast-growing companies led by daring entrepreneurs.
“As the FinTech industry is one of our key focus areas, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to invest in a company like B9, which is paving the way for the future of banking for immigrant communities and other underrepresented groups,” says Anton Gazizov, CEO at Sky Light Invest.
He adds, “Most of us have encountered at some point the deficiencies of the classical banking system, unfair exchange rates, unavailability of multi-currency cards, and so on. However, with FinTech companies often being much faster in identifying client needs and creating efficient, high-demand products to meet them, we look forward to seeing continued growth for B9.”
