Stage 1 Ventures leads first institutional investment;
company adds to board of directors and executive team
Aliaswire, a provider of digital payment and credit solutions for businesses and financial institutions, announced $6 million in new funding. The round, led by Stage 1 Ventures, is the company’s first institutional investment in its 13-year history.
As part of the funding, Stage 1 Ventures Operating Partner Scott Carmel will join the Aliaswire board of directors. “Aliaswire has built a profitable, high-growth business with an extensive portfolio of innovative products, patents, and intellectual property,” said Carmel. “We see a strong team and tremendous opportunity to accelerate the pace of innovation to open up new markets and revenue streams.”
The company has also made two additions to its leadership team. Fintech veteran Chris Gardner has joined Aliaswire’s board as an individual member. Gardner has spent the better part of three decades as an entrepreneur, founder, and product and marketing executive at Boston-area venture-backed companies including PayPal, Paydiant, Extend Media, m-Qube, and edocs.
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In addition, Kristen Pulkkinen has joined Aliaswire’s executive team as Chief Marketing Officer to lead the company’s branding, positioning and go-to-market efforts. Pulkkinen’s 20+ years of leadership experience span marketing, sales, business intelligence, and customer engagement for both B2B and B2C companies. She joins Aliaswire from PDI Software, a leader in enterprise management software for the convenience retail and petroleum wholesale markets. Previously, she was Chief Marketing Officer for alternative payments company Zipline.
Aliaswire, which has tripled its headcount in the last 18 months and is on track to double its revenue in 2021, is focused on two market opportunities.
- DirectBiller® is a cloud-based electronic bill presentment and payment solution. Offered as a white-label solution, DirectBiller is sold through financial institutions’ treasury management and commercial banking units to facilitate both B2B and B2C payments for banks’ business customers. New billers on the platform increased by 40% in 2020.
- PayVus® is an innovative credit offering for the small business market, providing business owners with tools to improve cash flow and credit to reinvest in their business, without building more debt. The solution is adding new customers at a growth rate of 100% month over month.
The venture investment will support the expansion of both solutions and be used primarily for hiring in the areas of product engineering, customer care, account management, and business development.
“We’re really pleased to have the support of Scott Carmel and Stage 1 Ventures,” said Aliaswire CEO Jed Rice. “The team here has had tremendous success to date, and we believe adding the discipline, experience and insight of an investor like Stage 1 will be invaluable as we build on our momentum and navigate the next stage of our growth.”
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