Announcing our Series A
Two years ago, when we launched Finley out of Y Combinator, we set out to prove that software could transform the way businesses manage and access debt capital.
There wasn't any software focused on simplifying corporate credit or asset-backed debt, so we knew we had a lot of learning to do. What we've discovered over the course of dozens of engagements with customers, and managing billions of dollars of debt capital, is that software can not only accelerate funding operations, but can also significantly reduce financial risk for debt capital lenders and borrowers alike.
The question is no longer whether software has a role to play in debt capital; it's how much of the private credit ecosystem it will remake.
Today, we're excited to share that we've raised $17 million in a Series A funding led by CRV, with participation from existing investors Y Combinator, Bain Capital Ventures, Haystack, and Nine Four Ventures, as well as new investor Upper90.
James Green, General Partner at CRV, has been an incredibly helpful partner since we met him almost two years ago, and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to work with him more closely as he joins the board.
Since launching, we've been fortunate to be able to bring on teammates who bring the camaraderie, intellectual curiosity, and tenacity that make working at an early-stage startup a true joy (side note: we're hiring!). We've also had the opportunity to build and refine our product alongside customers and investors who share our vision of an economy where funding moves at the pace of business. These partnerships have been invaluable.
Our new round of funding will enable us to invest in both our team and our customers: we'll continue to build a world-class financial software team and deliver more robust capital markets capabilities for current and future customers.
We believe in building long-term solutions, and this funding gives us the opportunity to design for flexibility and scalability.
Why debt capital software became mission-critical
Over the past 10-15 years, a seismic shift happened in the economy: banks left lending. Common wisdom would suggest that banks do the majority of lending to businesses, but the reality is that today, the bank share of overall business debt is at less than 20 percent. For primary market corporate loans, it's less than 10 percent.
So who stepped in to fill the void? A new group of non-bank parties called private credit providers.
The benefit of private credit is that it is versatile; capital providers vary greatly in size, investment targets, and geographic and industry focus, which enables them to serve a variety of businesses.
The downside is that, from a data and tooling perspective, private credit is a $1 trillion black hole. With so many players in the space, and no centralized standards, raising and managing debt capital is now more complex, fragmented, and opaque than ever before. This leads to inaccurate transactions, limited views of risk, and frequent lender-borrower disagreements.
That's where Finley's software comes in: our tools bring speed, transparency, and simplicity to debt capital. And our work with customers like TripActions, Ramp, and Parafin has proven that tech-enabled debt capital management is not only possible, but an essential part of the modern financial tech stack.
What's coming next
We couldn't be more excited for the rest of 2023 and beyond.
To all private credit borrowers and lenders with manual processes and high-value debt capital needs: we'd love to meet you! You can send us an email at contact@finleycms.com or request a debt capital consultation and demo.
To all builders and technologists: we're hiring across all teams. We're building a number of functions from the ground up, including Product Design, Operations, and Marketing, so this a great time to join a fast-growing, collaborative company and accelerate your career. For more information, check out our job postings.
-- Jeremy, Kevin, and Josiah