Highbeam, a New York-based neobank constructed for folks constructing e-commerce manufacturers on marketplaces like Shopify and Amazon, raised $7 million in seed funding to proceed growing banking instruments that cater to those entrepreneurs’ wants.
The one-year-old fintech startup, began by Samir Shergill and Gautam Gupta, gives banking options, entry to clear credit score and money administration insights. It really works with Blue Ridge Financial institution, N.A. to offer the banking companies and debit card and The Forex Cloud Ltd. on fee companies.
“We’re the monetary companion to assist e-commerce manufacturers scale,” CEO Shergill informed TechCrunch. “Banks want to assist with money administration as an organization scales, however in addition they have to be an actual monetary companion, for instance, giving recommendation on how you can entry credit score. That’s our strategy.”
Sustainable revenue development has change into extra vital for manufacturers, particularly when e-commerce development exploded through the pandemic and has pulled again some as shops reopened, Shergill stated.
Coupled with promoting and privateness adjustments on social media websites, manufacturers should not capable of scale by pouring cash into these channels anymore. As a substitute, scaling is extra sophisticated and Shergill believes it requires instruments like Highbeam to be able to bridge the hole between promoting the enterprise and the entrepreneur figuring it out themselves.
Highbeam’s e-commerce financial institution product. Picture Credit: Highbeam
“Manufacturers are having to do issues like go omnichannel a lot earlier,” he added. “You used to have the ability to develop simply on Shopify, however now you need to take a look at retail earlier.”
By specializing in e-commerce, Shergill stated Highbeam is ready to present a single monetary view of the enterprise, the place money is coming in and going out, and assist entrepreneurs resolve the suitable credit score choice and supply insights on frequent conditions. For instance, if money ranges go down 10% or provide chain points proceed, what is going to that imply for the enterprise?
As well as, Highbeam is providing not solely these monetary insights, but in addition a software program element to gather and analyze information for people who don’t but have somebody in a chief monetary officer position.
Highbeam has had dozens of consumers swap their financial institution because it launched its product three months in the past and is now managing tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars}, Shergill stated.
Now the corporate is able to scale. The $7 million seed spherical, closed in Could, was co-led by FirstMark and Mayfield, which have been joined by a gaggle of particular person buyers.
Plans for the brand new capital embody bolstering the corporate’s crew of 10 and product growth on the core banking aspect, together with investing in higher expertise and credit score choices. Shergill can be investing in go to market and gross sales.
“We wish to be sure that we will add worth to those founders and be a real monetary companion as we handle their money and credit score wants,” he added. “We wish to construct out our know-how as we construct {our relationships} with them.”
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