Relay Financial Raises USD $15 Million To Fix Small Business Banking

Toronto’s Relay Financial has raised a USD $15 million Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation of existing investors, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Garage Capital, Tribe Capital, Panache Ventures, and Amaranthine.

Founded by Yoseph West and Paul Klicnik, Relay Financial offers no-fee banking that streamlines day-to-day finance for small business.

We’re building a banking platform that gives small business owners more visibility into their financial standing. Cash flow shouldn’t be confusing. The only way that happens is if the tools that power the SMB back office are truly integrated — and that includes your bank. Our vision is to automate financial management so small business owners can always have clarity and confidence around every dollar in their account.

Any small business owner knows the pain of simply trying to open a bank account for their business — the paperwork, the lineups at the branch, the time spent on hold waiting to speak to a human. And even once your account is set up, your bank doesn’t do anything to actually enable your business to succeed.

Traditional business accounts are expensive — often charging steep, unnecessary fees — and are disconnected from the other systems your business relies on. This, coupled with the lack of support, can make it really difficult for business owners to understand their own financial status.

West spent four years at Toronto’s Hubdoc where he had the chance to get to work deeply with the accounting and bookkeeping community.

“Accountants and bookkeepers are all too familiar with the time-sink of broken bank feeds, the hassle of trying to access client banking, and how challenging it is for their clients and themselves — business owners in their own right — to simply get the support and functionality they need from their traditional bank,” writes West.

Not only does Relay’s permissioning model make it easy for business owners to collaborate with their advisors on banking, they’re also plan on making accounting and bookkeeping simpler.