APRON, a leading business payments company, has raised $30 million in a Series B funding round to digitize and simplify the payment process, help more small business owners succeed, and increase cash flow security for these businesses.
The investment was led by Zinal Growth, a growth-stage focused technology fund backed by the founders of Checkout.com. Existing investors Index Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners, which led Apron’s $15 million Series A in September 2023, participated in the round, along with investor Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod and principal at Build Collective.
Receiving and paying payments is a pain point universally felt and endured by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The average small business owner spends up to 20% of their working week issuing, paying and managing invoices and associated administrative tasks*. Taking time away from customer-facing time to tackle these payments does not guarantee your business’ success: more than four in five UK SMBs fail due to cash flow issues.
Apron allows business owners and their accountants to receive, sort, approve, pay and reconcile invoices in seconds. By taking a “town square” approach that allows suppliers, buyers and accountants to smoothly and seamlessly manage payments with each other, Apron helps small businesses reduce the valuable time and effort they spend arranging and tracking payments, allowing them to focus on serving their customers and building their business.
Through its proprietary payments platform, Apron makes it possible to pay anyone, including employees and suppliers, anywhere in the world. Apron also easily integrates with a business’s existing accounting tools (Xero or Quickbooks), allowing for instant reconciliation of payments.
Founded in late 2021 by former Revolut product lead Bogdan Uzbekov, Apron’s UK-based small business customer base has grown rapidly, primarily through word of mouth. Since securing a $15 million Series A in September 2023, the number of small business customers Apron serves has grown more than 20x. Thousands of invoices and millions of payments now pass through Apron’s platform every day, helping more businesses save time and get back to doing what they love.
Guillaume Pousaz, founder of Checkout.com and chairman of Zinal Growth, commented: “We have been deeply impressed with the execution and vision of Bogdan and the Apron team. They have created a great product for both SMEs and accountants, and we are excited to continue supporting them on their journey.”
“We believe Apron solves a key pain point that small business owners know all too well, making managing payments an efficient and enjoyable experience. We’re excited to deepen our partnership with Apron as it takes on the next phase of its business,” said Luca Schmid, managing partner at Zinal Growth.
Bogdan Uzbekov, founder and CEO of Apron, commented, “Every business we speak to wants consumer-level quality from their B2B software. It makes no sense to them that in their personal lives they can make and receive payments instantly, but in their business the process is lengthy, siloed and unfit for purpose. With new investment and expertise, we’re excited to welcome new talent to our team and innovate, design and build B2B payment experiences that truly transform payments from a pain to a powerhouse.”
Proceeds from the investment will be used to expand Apron’s engineering and product teams ahead of key milestones in the startup’s 2025 roadmap. The team will launch a new product that will provide Apron to large suppliers that invoice thousands of SMB customers, eliminating manual revenue collection and helping them get paid faster. The team will also bring to market a new affordable, accessible expense management solution tailored to SMBs alongside its Bill Pay product, in response to customer demand for an alternative solution to existing products in the market.
