Relay, a business banking platform that provides small businesses (SMBs) with cash flow clarity, announced the closing of a US$32.2 million Series B financing round, led by Bain Capital Ventures. This brings Relay’s total funding to $51.6 million.
This new funding accelerates Relay’s product development in spend management, smart credit products and a financial API marketplace. And it is the next step toward Relay’s overarching goal of delivering AI-powered predictive cash flow analytics to SMBs.
This funding comes after several years of outsized growth. And Relay’s revenues rose 3x in 2022 and close to 6x in 2023 and a single-minded focus on the small business market.
This funding round includes previous Relay investors BTV, Garage, and Tapestry, with new participation from Industry Ventures.
Relay taps into the ingrained money management behaviors of business owners and SMBs want to see what they’ve earmarked for different expenses and understand their cash position at a glance. With this approach, Relay became the official banking platform for Profit First last summer. Created and authored by serial entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz, Profit First is a behavior-based cash management methodology and book (with over 1 million copies sold) that teaches SMBs better financial habits.
On average, business owners log into Relay 13 times every month and 40% of customers who use Relay for their primary banking log in daily.
KEY QUOTES:
“68% of U.S. small business owners have cash flow problems. They worry about making payroll and mission-critical bills but lack the tools to truly address these existential threats. Relay gives them cash flow clarity and control—what SMBs need to sustainably fuel everyday operations—by pairing financial services with software and making banking work harder for them.”
- Yoseph West, Relay’s Co-Founder and CEO
“Relay’s been on an incredible trajectory, even as others in the industry have had to pivot and find new footing. We were eager to get behind Relay again as the company enters its next stage of growth and doubles down on the unique needs of the SMB market.”
- Kevin Zhang, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures
“What makes Relay so powerful for small business owners is how it works with our natural tendencies rather than against them. Everything from saving for taxes to tracking expenses becomes second nature in Relay, and it removes so much friction from the day-to-day work of running a business.”
- Mike Michalowicz
