Half of U.S. small businesses operate with just 27 days of cash buffer—Relay’s banking platform gives them tools to extend their runway.
Relay, the business banking platform that gives cash flow clarity to small businesses (SMBs), announced today the close of a US$32.2 million Series B financing round, led by Bain Capital Ventures. This brings Relay’s total funding to US$51.6 million. The new financing accelerates Relay’s product development in spend management, smart credit products and a financial API marketplace. It’s the next step toward Relay’s overarching goal of delivering AI-powered predictive cash flow analytics to SMBs.
The funding comes after consecutive years of outsized growth—Relay’s revenues rose 3x in 2022 and close to 6x in 2023—and a single-minded focus on the small business market.
“68% of U.S. small business owners have cash flow problems. They worry about making payroll and mission-critical bills but lack the tools to truly address these existential threats,” said Yoseph West, Relay’s Co-Founder and CEO. “Relay gives them cash flow clarity and control—what SMBs need to sustainably fuel everyday operations—by pairing financial services with software and making banking work harder for them.”
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The funding round includes previous Relay investors BTV, Garage, and Tapestry, with new participation from Industry Ventures. “Relay’s been on an incredible trajectory, even as others in the industry have had to pivot and find new footing,” said Kevin Zhang, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures. “We were eager to get behind Relay again as the company enters its next stage of growth and doubles down on the unique needs of the SMB market.”
Relay taps into the ingrained money management behaviors of business owners. SMBs want to see what they’ve earmarked for different expenses and understand their cash position at a glance—which is what Relay delivers. As a result of this approach, last summer, Relay became the official banking platform for Profit First. Created and authored by serial entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz, Profit First is a behavior-based cash management methodology and book—with over 1 million copies sold—that teaches SMBs better financial habits.
“What makes Relay so powerful for small business owners is how it works with our natural tendencies rather than against them,” says Mike Michalowicz. “Everything from saving for taxes to tracking expenses becomes second nature in Relay, and it removes so much friction from the day-to-day work of running a business.”
On average, business owners log into Relay 13 times per month, and 40% of customers who use Relay for their primary banking log in daily. The company most recently launched a credit card in limited release, complementing their smart checking and savings accounts, and a line of credit is slated to come.
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