(27 April 2022 – United States) Citi has led a $10 million funding round for Crowdz as part of a wider collaboration with the SME finance platform to develop software-as-a-service (SaaS) receivables as an asset class.
Citi, through its strategic investing arm Spread Products Investment Technologies (Sprint), co-led the round with Global Cleantech Capital, with participation from Bold Capital Partners, TFX Ventures, and Augment Ventures.
Crowdz’s platform offers an alternative financing solution for small businesses that often struggle to obtain traditional bank financing. Its technology enables small businesses to sell invoices to funders for financing, reducing cash flow bottlenecks and giving small businesses working capital.
“We share Citi’s view of recurring revenue as having the potential to become a new asset class, and Crowdz’s technology—including a global receivables marketplace with risk scoring, white label for enterprises and banks, and creation of digital assets—will help enable additional investment in this area,” said Crowdz CEO and co-founder Payson Johnston.
“Only a small fraction of the US$170bn in yearly SaaS revenues are currently represented in financial products, indicating a massive opportunity for expansion,” said Citi head of Sprint Katya Chupryna.