Invoicing and accounts payable company AvidXchange has raised $260 million in equity funding, which co-founder and CEO Michael Praeger said would help grow the company’s sales, marketing, product development and engineering teams.
According to Praeger, AvidXchange has seen eight consecutive years of 40% growth, and the new funding should help the company continue that growth trajectory during the next three to five years.
The equity raise, which puts the company’s total funding amount at more than $800 million since its founding in 2000, was led by TPG Sixth Street Partners and other undisclosed investors. Praeger said AvidXchange will focus most of its growth on its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., and its Salt Lake City office.
AvidXchange focuses on automating outgoing payments and invoicing for mid-market companies with accounts payable software that integrates with common accounting systems like Oracle NetSuite and Intuit QuickBooks. The company aims to eliminate paper checks and other manual business-to-business payment processes. According to the company, more than 60% of U.S. businesses use paper checks to pay bills, translating to $2.7 trillion in yearly administrative costs.
The company acquired BankTEL Systems last year, which added more than 2,000 bank customers who now use AvidXchange’s accounts payable and invoicing software. Its current list of banking clients includes Radius Bank, which acts as the sponsor bank for many fintech companies, as well as community banks, such as Mansfield Bank and Hingham Institution for Savings.
In addition to helping banks automate payments and invoicing, AvidXchange white labels its products to banks. Fifth Third and KeyBank, for example, both brand AvidXchange’s product offerings as their own, and offer the solutions to commercial clients. Praeger said AvidXchange has about 35 banks using its white label products.
See also: With $125m Series B, HighRadius to expand outreach to client banks
According to the company, AvidXchange has 5,500 business clients, executes 9.5 million payments every year and processed $120 billion in payments in 2018. It hired 175 new employees last year, bringing the total staff to 1,400.
AvidXchange isn’t the only company looking to automate payments for corporate clients. HighRadius, for example, automates accounts receivable and payment processing for large corporations like Johnson & Johnson and Danone. HighRadius raised $125 million in equity earlier this month.
However, Praeger said the two companies are different enough to co-exist in the market.
“HighRadius is a great example of a company that has progressed on the opposite side of the equation from us. They are focused on the accounts receivable side,” Praeger said. “We’re all about sending and the accounts payable process.”
Bank Innovation Ignite, which will take place March 2-3 in Seattle, is a must-attend industry event for professionals overseeing financial technologies, product experiences and services. This is an exclusive, invitation-only event for executives eager to learn about the latest innovations. Request your invitation.