Balance, a two-year-old Tel Aviv startup that makes payments and checkout software for business-to-business marketplaces, raised $56 million in equity funding, bringing its valuation to $356 million, nearly triple its level from a year ago. The financing round was led by Forerunner Ventures, with Salesforce Ventures, Hubspot Ventures, Lyra Ventures and Gramercy Ventures also contributing. Kirsten Green, the founder and managing partner of Forerunner, will join Balance’s board of directors.
The financing bucks a downtrend in fintech, where stocks have fallen sharply and many startups have paused capital-raising efforts or slashed valuations. Shares of Block Inc., the payment processor formerly known as Square, have dropped 58% year-to-date. Restaurant point-of-sale software company Toast has fallen 59%.
Balance customers range across sizes and industries, counting restaurant-supply marketplace Choco and apparel platform Zilingo among its users. The company has also integrated with Shopify and Magento so businesses without websites can quickly set up online storefronts and begin processing transactions.
“In the next two years, if you're not online, you're essentially dead in terms of the dynamic in the market,” says Bar Geron, 33, Balance cofounder and CEO. Geron and cofounder Yoni Shuster met while working at PayPal. Balance was inspired by innovations from payments companies like Stripe, which was an early investor. It plans to use its new funding to expand its presence in North America and potentially move into new regions.