Supply chain finance startup CashFlo raises $8.7M from General Catalyst

Supply chain finance startup Cashflo has raised its second round of capital of $8.7 million (Rs 70 crore approx.) led by General Catalyst, with participation from existing investor Elevation Capital. 

Prominent angels, including Jitendra Gupta (Jupiter), Amrish Rau (Pine Labs), Nitin Gupta (Uni), Rangarajan K (FiveStar), Gokul Rajaram, Whiteboard Capital, Atrium Angels, and Saikiran Krishnamurthy, among others, also pitched in. 

The fresh capital will be deployed to grow product lines for the CFO function, invest in core technology, and expand category leadership in the vendor financing automation market in India, it said in a statement. It had previously raised $3.3 million in series A funding from SAIF Partners, and angel investors Ashish Iyer (previously senior partner at BCG) and Arpan Sheth (partner at Bain & Company ).

Founded in 2018 by ex-Boston Consulting Group (BCG) executives Ankur Bhageria and Dushyant Agarwal, CashFlo offers a discounting and vendor financing automation platform that helps businesses automate their core finance processes and manage cash flows better. 

The platform enables buyers pay for goods and services early and earn >12% risk-free returns or pay later and unlock up to 180 days of working capital, while ensuring GST compliance among suppliers and automatic payment reconciliations. Suppliers in-turn get an on-demand receivables discounting platform which allows them to collect-at-will from customers, giving them visibility into the buyer’s invoicing process.

“Over the past three years, we have heavily invested in our product and technology capabilities to constantly stay ahead of the market and bring a differentiated value proposition to our clients. Today we are head and shoulders above competition in terms of product and execution capabilities. This is evident from our 800%+ growth in the last 12 months,” said CEO Ankur Bhageria. 

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The company claims to have expanded its network to over 50 large supply chains that include likes of Tata Group, L&T Group, Murugappa Group, ITC, Lupin, Delhivery, Thermax, and Arvind, among others; and a network of over 2,00,000 Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers and dealers.

“The pandemic and current macro environment are constant reminders that cash and liquidity are key indicators of business health. We have seen an acceleration in adoption of B2B payments solutions globally as businesses try to cope with volatility and believe innovative players like Cashflo face a large opportunity ahead,” said Alex Tran, Managing Director, General Catalyst.

Mridul Arora, Partner, Elevation Capital, said, "We’re privileged to strengthen our partnership with CashFlo as they disrupt B2B payments and vendor financing in India. We are big believers in supply chain-led financial platforms, given the strong trust, scale and compounding network they are able to tap. CashFlo's growth in the past 12 months and quality of partners is testimony to the team's deep insights and ability to create win-win across stakeholders.”