C2FO primes for global expansion with C-suite adds; new CFO joins from post-IPO SelectQuote

Editor’s note: C2FO is a financial partner of Startland News.

Two new C-suite appointments to C2FO’s leadership team come as the Kansas City-based startup swells to record funding activity and projects new phases for its global expansion and growth.

Ragui Selwanes, a veteran tech executive, joins C2FO as chief product and technology officer, a newly created position that reinforces the company’s emphasis on innovation at the heart of its growth strategy, C2FO announced Monday.

And Raffaele “Raff” Sadun has been named the company’s new chief financial officer. He succeeds Kerri Thurston, C2FO’s longtime CFO who departs the role this month after six years with the startup.

Sadun joins from the insurance conglomerate SelectQuote where, as CFO, he led the company’s successful IPO in May 2020, the first non-biotech virtual listing on the NYSE. He also raised $150 million in equity via their pre-IPO private placement and $300 million in their secondary offering post-IPO.

“I am delighted to be joining C2FO, an organization that has a deep commitment to performance, innovation, and serving their customers and the community — something that resonates with me on a deep level,” said Sadun. “There’s a meaningful opportunity here to help more businesses better navigate challenging economic conditions.”

Click here to connect with Sudan on LinkedIn.

C2FO is the largest global platform for working capital, recently announcing more than $54.7 billion in accelerated payments to more than 46,000 businesses, a 57 percent increase over 2020.

Sandy Kemper, C2FO

“With the ongoing strain of inflation, reduced margins and a potential recession looming, businesses worldwide are relying even more on C2FO to get paid faster and at significantly lower cost than alternative funding mechanisms,” the company said.

As of May 15, C2FO has continued on this growth trajectory, with a 69 percent increase in accelerated payments to customers year over year. 

“We’re proud to have earned the trust of over 1 million businesses that have access to our cash flow forecasting and working capital platform — yet we also recognize the responsibility that this brings as these companies lean even more on C2FO amid a slew of economic headwinds,” said Sandy Kemper, C2FO founder and CEO.

Sadun and Selwanes will play essential roles in guiding C2FO forward, he added.

As CFO, Sadun will help lead corporate strategy and support the company’s continued enhancement of products, services and partnerships, with an eye towards bringing new solutions to solve working capital challenges for businesses. In tandem, Selwanes will shape and execute on this vision by heading innovation in product development that will further extend C2FO’s financial technology leadership position.

“Raff’s proven leadership and vision as a CFO will be invaluable as we drive to put even more capital in the hands of businesses worldwide. Ragui’s background as a strong leader and superb product strategist gives me confidence we can take our longstanding work towards technological innovation to a higher-level. Together, we will continue to do what we do best, helping our customers to grow and thrive, no matter the macroeconomic circumstances.”

Selwanes brings more than 30 years of progressive leadership experience with industry-leading technology, healthcare and financial services organizations. He joins C2FO from Varis, where he led the company’s payments and financial solutions business and was responsible for corporate strategies and partnerships with payment and financial providers. Prior to Varis, Selwanes worked as vice president of Amazon Capital Services Inc. and director of worldwide B2B Payments, where he drove the business payments and seller lending businesses across all operating Amazon marketplaces.

Click here to connect with Selwanes on LinkedIn.

To date, C2FO has provided more than $200 million in funding to businesses, and has reduced the time it takes for suppliers to receive payment by an average of 32 days. The company expects to announce significant new partnerships and products in the coming months.

Click here to read more about how C2FO helped women- and minority-owned businesses access nearly $2 billion in 2021 alone.