Finli raises $6m to bring mobile payment management to service-based businesses

By Edlyn Cardoza

Finli, a payment management platform built for service-based small businesses in the US, has recently announced the close of its $6 million Seed fundraising round, led by the Urban Innovation Fund. Motley Fool Ventures, M13, Alumni Ventures, and all existing investors also participated in the round. The new injection of funds will be used to expand Finli’s team and business banking capabilities, moving towards becoming a holistic financial services solution.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 99.9% of US businesses are small businesses. Existing banking and administrative platforms have not built their solutions with the small business of today in mind, many of whom are utilising five or more services to manage client billing and payments.

“Our mission is to provide underserved businesses with the financial tools that they need to manage and grow their businesses without taking on hefty fees or complicated workflows. By meeting them where they are, we are giving them back time and money,” said Lori Shao, CEO of Finli. “We intentionally built Finli to solve cumbersome business challenges so that owners and operators can focus on growing their business and not chasing payments.”

Finli’s platform is thoughtfully designed for businesses to manage all aspects of invoicing and payments communication, allowing them to easily use familiar tools and customers to pay outstanding invoices through their mobile devices.

“Customers love Finli because it is so easy to use. The Finli team is totally dedicated to lifting up small businesses and owner-operators – and it shows,” said Clara Brenner, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Urban Innovation Fund. “Many service providers are fearful of big tech taking advantage of them with hidden costs and complex integrations. Finli allows small businesses to regain control – delighting their customers and making more money in the process.”

Finli’s platform allows small businesses to invoice on the go: sending invoices, looking up customer information, creating recurring invoices and checking on payment status from a phone. New users can set up an account and issue an invoice in under one minute through their mobile device, desktop or any other device. There are zero merchant transaction fees for business bank-to-bank transfers. Cash and check payments can be reconciled through Finli’s platform, and businesses can manage collections through automated emails & text messages.

Finli’s seed round brings total funding to $9.5 million. Existing investors include Mac Venture Capital, Slauson and Co, Core Innovation Capital, Techstars and Muse Capital.