Balance, the industry leader in B2B marketplace and eCommerce payments, announced a $56 million Series B fundraising round today, increasing the company’s total capital to $87 million. Forerunner Ventures led the investment, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Hubspot Ventures, Lyra Ventures, and Gramercy Ventures. Former Shopify CMO Jeff Wisener, Faire CTO & co-founder Marcelo Cortes, and prior investors Ribbit Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, Avid Ventures, Upwest, and Jibe also participated in the round as angel investors. Balance plans to utilize the funds to expand its solutions to new global eCommerce platforms and help B2B retailers increase their digital sales.
Balance has helped hundreds of B2B retailers and marketplaces since its introduction in February 2021, more than doubling its customer base. The firm has brought centuries-old sectors such as timber, chemicals, steel, retail, and food online. MaterialsXchange, a marketplace for buying and selling timber and panels; ChemDirect, a marketplace for businesses that require on-demand chemical supplies; Abound, a wholesale marketplace for retail; and notch, an ordering platform for restaurants and wholesalers, are among them.
While B2B payment volume is five times that of B2C retail payments, just 7% of B2B trade is conducted online. Balance replaces the traditional B2B payment approach with a self-service, online experience that is similar to B2C. Companies can accept any payment method, provide variable net terms finance, and be paid promptly using Balance’s array of solutions – all from one web platform. Buyers may pay in the same way they would on a consumer website, with only a few clicks.
