Funding round led by Florida Funders, with participation from Home Depot Ventures, Community Investment Management (CIM), Companyon Ventures and MS&AD Ventures
Flex, formerly known as Flexbase, announced the closing of a $120M Series A debt and equity funding round, which includes debt financing from CIM with an agreement to fund up to $100M, and $20M in equity capital led by Florida Funders with participation from Home Depot Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, Companyon Ventures and others. In addition to the funding news, the company has launched its Flex Credit Card, Flex Banking and finance super app for business owners to streamline the finance back office of businesses and accelerate their growth.
“While enterprises and modern tech companies have seen significant innovation in the last five years, very little has come to our main street small businesses that have been the backbone of this country, driving our economy forward,” said Zaid Rahman, founder and CEO of Flex. “Most B2B FinTech companies serve Silicon Valley tech startups or large enterprise companies, neglecting small businesses that are struggling to find the credit and tools they need to effectively manage their finances. Flex’s new offerings focus on supporting small businesses by giving them the credit they deserve and providing the essential finance back office tools they need to achieve success.”
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“Until now, no one has been able to consolidate all the financial services and workflows required to effectively build, manage and protect business owners’ finances in one platform,” said Hadi Solh, co-founder of Flex. “Flex is introducing the future of FinTech by bundling services into one super app empowering founders, business owners and CFOs to grow their businesses. We look forward to rolling out even more transformational offerings in the coming months.”
This announcement comes as SMBs continue to power the U.S. economy, creating two-thirds of all new jobs and accounting for 99.9% of all U.S. businesses. Flex’s core product is a credit card that caters to traditional small businesses that have historically been underserved by financial institutions and up-and-coming FinTech platforms. The company offers 0% interest for 60 days on all purchases, providing Net-60 float and flexibility for businesses to grow. Flex is redefining credit and finance management by providing business owners with a credit card and financial ecosystem designed to reduce the hassle of expense reports, minimize administrative headaches, simplify employee card management and accelerate growth. The platform bundles every aspect of the back office, from banking to receipt capture, employee cards with specific limits, expense tracking and more, all in one place. With a significant demand from over 20,000 companies, Flex has moved beyond its initial construction focus to service industries such as logistics, trucking, farming, mom-and-pop service businesses, digital businesses, e-commerce companies, restaurants, real estate and more.
“Flex is reimagining how finance is done at businesses and has a proven track record when it comes to supporting businesses to provide more than just a credit card but a platform to manage their entire financial life,” said Saxon Baum, partner of Florida Funders. “We couldn’t be more pleased to invest in such a cutting-edge FinTech company and look forward to seeing their tremendous growth.”
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Flex Key Features and Benefits
- Flex Credit Card and Credit Flexibility: Flex Credit Cards come with 0% interest for 60 days on every single purchase. With Flex, businesses can get unlimited employee physical and virtual cards with category and spending limits to manage business spending in real time without slowing down growth. Unlike other cards, Flex cards have no monthly or annual maintenance fees and no late fee charges. Flex also offers credit limits that grow as a business grows – the more customers use Flex, the more credit limit they may be able to obtain. The Flex Credit Card is issued by Patriot Bank, N.A. Flex extends the credit for the Flex Credit Cards, and the cards are subject to Commercial Cardholder Agreements. Flex Credit Cards are available to businesses operating within the United States (except CA, NV, SD, ND, and VT at launch) and Puerto Rico.
- Flex Banking: With Flex Banking, businesses can manage cash all from one place. Flex provides banking with up to 4% yield on idle cash. There are no annual, monthly or late fees, and wire transfers, ACH and insufficient fund fees are also a thing of the past. Flex’s debit cards offer 1% cashback on transactions. Flex enables businesses to have multiple free accounts under one entity for increased agility. The Flex Banking Debit Card is issued by Thread Bank, member FDIC.
- Flex Treasury Management: Flex’s Treasury Management, through partner American Deposit Management (ADM), enables businesses to diversify cash across multiple financial institutions and eliminate bank-run risk. Flex customers can access up to $75M in FDIC/NCUA insurance – a considerable increase over the FDIC/NCUA’s standard deposit insurance limit of $250K. With Flex Treasury, funds are spread across up to 400 FDIC-insured financial institutions to maximize FDIC/NCUA insurance.
“As investors focused on providing capital to small businesses in underserved communities, we are excited by Flex’s potential to provide small businesses with access to responsible credit and the flexibility they need to manage their cash flow and growth,” said Jeff Hilton, managing director of CIM. “We’re eager to continue to support Flex as they provide innovative cash flow management products and solutions.”
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