Budget Management Fintech Ramp Gets Fresh Funding, Approaches $4 Billion Valuation

While spend management startup Ramp is focused on helping firms keep their budgets in check with its business-centric credit card and integrated cash management platform (essentially an advanced Mint mobile for enterprises), the promising fintech just earned the right to loosen its own purse strings a bit.

Just a few months after raising $115 million, Ramp announced today it raised $300 million in a Series C round of funding, valuing the company at $3.9 billion.

Still Ramping Up

Ramp pairs its corporate card with a spend management platform to save companies time and money with unlimited cashback and several automated expense management tools. The firm says its cardholders have increased five-fold this year, with CEO Eric Glyman reporting transaction volume increased 1,000% year-over-year, a notable surge considering Ramp earns its take largely on interchange (or credit card processing) fees.

Customers range from startups like Better and ClickUp all the way to substantial enterprises like Walther Farms and real estate firm Douglas Elliman, with Ramp claiming 2,000 businesses utilize its platform as their “primary spend management solution.” And investors are paying close attention to the fintech’s sustained growth:

• After leading Ramp’s $15 million Series A round in early 2020, Founders Fund (along with other previous backers) is back with another cash injection, boosting the startup’s total equity and debt raised to over $625 million since launching in March 2019.
• Founders Fund’s Keith Rabois explains, “Typically growth slows as a company scales, but demand for Ramp’s product is only accelerating as the team builds awareness and strengthens their product offering.”

Non-Jerk Negotiating: Along with the new capital, Ramp announced today an acquisition of “negotiation-as-a-service” platform Buyer, which proclaims to save its clients (primarily tech firms) an average of 27% on big-ticket purchases like annual software contracts by negotiating “without being jerks” — whatever that means.

The acquisition is part of Ramp’s larger strategy to help customers secure the best rate on “anything that can be purchased with a card, from travel to software — with the goal of shifting purchasing power back into the hands of buyers.”