Behalf, an Israeli provider of in-purchase financing solutions for US B2B sellers and buyers, said it raised USD 19 million in new venture financing, and created a new debt facility totaling up to USD 100 million provided by funds managed by Ares Management Corporation.
The venture funding round was led by existing investors MissionOG, Viola Growth, Viola Credit, and Vintage Investment Partners. New investors Migdal Insurance and La Maison Partners also participated in the round, according to the company’s statement.
Previous investors in Behalf include Visa, months after the company raised USD 150 million in debt financing in 2018.
The investment in this round brings Behalf’s total raised capital to USD 119 million, allowing the company to expand the availability of its in-purchase financing to a broader array of B2B merchants and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) while extending the capabilities of its platform.
“The B2B commerce market is ripe for transformation. Merchants are recognizing the opportunity to drive new revenue by deploying in-purchase financing,” said Rob Rosenblatt, CEO of Behalf. “At the same time, SMEs need access to affordable financing options—an evergreen challenge exacerbated during COVID-19,” he added.
Rosenblatt stated that even though the “US economy is improving, SMEs continue to seek financial assistance to purchase critical supplies, inventory, and equipment. They often lack the requisite spending capacity on their personal or business credit cards. By offering in-purchase financing with flexible terms, B2B merchants can increase their average order size by as much as 50–80% while reducing their risk, improving cash flow, and driving operational efficiencies,” he explained.
Behalf’s solution provides B2B merchants with consumer-focused “buy now, pay later” offerings along with other capabilities tailored to B2B commerce, such as seamless checkout to enhance customer loyalty, easy integration with existing point-of-sale systems to avoid disruptions, incorporation of scoring models to address the complexity and risk of SME lending, ability to serve the needs of business customers of various sizes, financing transactions of greater average order value, and sharing best practices with other B2B merchants, the company said.
Migdal’s deputy CEO and chief investment officer Guy Fischer said they are pleased to invest in Behalf’s current round. “This investment comes from our USD 1.5 billion internal fintech fund and is in line with our strategy of investing in fintech companies that have robust growth potential. This injection of capital should support a steep growth curve for the company,” Fischer added.
“We think there is a great market opportunity for a B2B offering targeting the more complex, real-time financing needs of SMEs,” said Jeffrey Kramer, partner and head of ABS in the alternative credit strategy of the Ares Credit Group. “We are excited to provide a debt facility that will help support the company to achieve its growth objectives,” he said.
Behalf was founded in 2011 and is based in Ra’anana, Israel, and in New York City.
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The article was originally published by NoCamels, a leading news website covering breakthrough innovation from Israel for a global audience.
