BREAKING: C2FO closes $200M investment led by backer of WeWork, Uber, Slack

August 7, 2019  |  Startland News Staff

Sandy Kemper, C2FO

Startup giant C2FO continues its climb to the top, having secured a new $200 million investment — and doubling the amount of its once-record funding raise in fewer than two years. 

“We are very fortunate to have a team who, for years, has delivered industry-leading unit economics, extraordinary customer satisfaction, and strong global growth,” Sandy Kemper, C2FO founder and CEO, said in a release Wednesday.

Updated: Click here to read more of Kemper’s thoughts on the massive funding round, including C2FO’s big challenge: proving it’s worth of Kansas City’s biggest investments.

The chart smashing round — believed to be the largest yet for a venture capital-backed startup in Kansas City — was led by the $108 billion SoftBank Vision Fund, which also has stakes in WeWork, Uber, Slack and DoorDash. The investment places Nahoko Hoshino, vice president of investment at SoftBank Investment Advisers, on the C2FO board of directors. 

Click here to read about C2FO’s previous record setting, $100 million funding round.

John Buttrick, Union Square Ventures

John Buttrick, Union Square Ventures

Investment firms Temasek and Union Square Ventures returned to the table and placed new bets on C2FO, the company said of the round’s additional participants. 

“This infusion of capital from the Vision Fund and existing investors will be used to further our expansion as we strive to build a new world wherein the increased liquidity provided by the C2FO platform helps companies and in turn, entire economies, grow more rapidly,” Kemper said. 

Streamlining the world of working capital, C2FO’s online marketplace has amassed over 300,000 clients in 173 countries — helping them control their cash flow and manage more than $1 billion in funding on a weekly basis, the company explained. 

Such reach and the ability to shake the industry helped attract SoftBank to the energy-rich startup, said Ashkay Naheta, managing partner. 

“We invested in C2FO because we think their disruptive innovation offers a solution to an industry that has traditionally lacked cost-efficient alternatives for businesses of all sizes looking to free up cash quickly,” Naheta said.

Cash injections and the ability to rapidly scale wouldn’t be possible without the C2FO team, Kemper noted. 

 “Due to their work, we have now grown to match over $1.2 trillion of accounts receivable and accounts payable,” he said.

SoftBank believes C2FO and its leaders are equipped with vision that could help the company — which is expected to reach a $1 billion valuation — become the global exchange for working capital, Naheta said. 

Startland will have more on this story as it develops.

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

2019 Startups to Watch

    stats here

    Related Posts on Startland News

    Eze Redwood, Rise Fast

    Challenging the notion of ‘entitled millennials,’ Rise Fast empowers young people

    By Tommy Felts | January 19, 2017

    When the economy took a turn for the worst in 2008, many millennials saw their parents and grandparents laid off by companies they’d been loyal to for years. Eze Redwood said that although it’s easy to gloss over the impact that traumatic events have on a generation’s psyche, young professionals carry the weight of this…

    As engagement grows, KC Women in Technology gears up for 2017

    By Tommy Felts | January 19, 2017

    Imagine if the next Mark Zuckerberg was a young female living in Kansas City. Despite an interest and aptitude in technology, imagine she walks into a popular clothing store and seeing a shirt that reads: “I’m too pretty to do math.” Subliminal messages such as this are not an uncommon occurrence for many young women.…

    Kansas City city hall

    KC programs become semifinalists in Harvard innovation contest

    By Tommy Felts | January 19, 2017

    Harvard University has recognized two Kansas City initiatives as semifinalists in the school’s Innovations in American Government Awards competition. Led by the City of Kansas City, Mo., the Community Improvement District Revolving Loan Fund and Women’s Empowerment initiative both are among 100 programs vying for a shot to become finalists and the $100,000 grand prize.…

    The Lean Lab continues to make an impact in KC education

    By Tommy Felts | January 18, 2017

    As the Lean Lab looks back on its third year, co-founder Katie Boody said the program is “just getting started.” Launched in 2013, the Kansas City-based education tech incubator engaged over 900 individuals in conversation on education innovation in 2016. In addition, last year marked the organization’s first step to go international, attracting entrepreneurs that…