Financial Enablement Platform Denim Closes $126 Million

By Dan Anderson • Sep 29, 2022
  • Denim (previously known as Axle Payments) recently announced it raised $126 million. These are the details.

Denim (previously known as Axle Payments) recently announced it raised $126 million. 

Funding amount: $126 million

Funding round: $26 million in equity financing and $100 million in debt financing

Investors: Led by Pelion Venture Partners and included participation from Crosslink Capital, Anthemis, Trucks VC, FJ Labs, Tribeca Early Stage Partners, and Refashiond Ventures. 

Total funding raised: $165 million in three years.

Metrics: Last year, Denim quadrupled its revenue, and this year facilitated nearly 60,000 jobs between shippers, carriers and freight brokers through its platform. And this year alone, the brand scaled the team 200%. Denim will leverage the funding to continue scaling the team and fuel product expansion efforts to meet the growing needs of the $134 billion freight broker market. Specifically, Denim will continue to build on its strong customer demand by providing flexible financing and automation tools that reduce daily payments and collections tasks by 75%.

KEY QUOTES:

“The core challenge our clients face is adapting to the pressures of an increasingly complex and unpredictable supply chain. Freight brokers — and the shippers and carriers they work with — must find ways to evolve how they do business together with smarter tools. Denim is pioneering the financial enablement market to meet this challenge, benefiting all parties along the supply chain. With the support of our investors, we’ll continue to scale and serve our clients while strengthening our position as a payments ecosystem that powers the supply chain.”

— Bharath Krishnamoorthy, chief executive officer and co-founder of Denim

“Denim’s innovation within the freight and logistics space has connected thousands through a payments infrastructure that streamlines the flow of money and data — an area where we see a great need for technological advancement and one where Denim will continue to capitalize. We are excited to partner with Bharath, Shawn, the rest of Denim’s leadership team, and our co-investors as the company continues its growth trajectory.”

— Blake Modersitzki, managing partner at Pelion Venture Partners

“Denim embodies who we are as a team and what we want to achieve in the freight and logistics industry – to be a reliable, essential, and universal partner to our clients. In the last year, our business has evolved and grown dramatically, including enhancements to our platform that help our clients optimize their financial decisions and considerable additions to our teams. We’re excited to unveil our new name and branding as we move into the next phase of growth.”

— Shawn Vo, chief technology officer and co-founder of Denim