Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures backs Berlin-based fintech Monite

Think what you want of Peter Thiel, his actions, his beliefs, and other sundries, the 56-year-old billionaire has a business acumen bar none. And so when the VC fund he co-established, Valar Ventures, puts its financial backing behind your product, there’s bound to be a certain sense of well-deserved accomplishment to be had.

Such is the case for Berlin-based fintech Monite, as it announces today the addition of $6 million to a seed round now topping out at approximately $16 million. In addition to Valar, existing Monite investor Third Prime renewed its commitment to the company.

Paper? Please

While the United States retains its position as the largest economy in the world in terms of GDP, is one of the most technologically advanced nations on the planet, and plays host to millions of businesses and consumers, it’s also the country where payment by cheque is still a thing.

So prevalent is the usage of this antiquated method, approximately 44 per cent of the US’ $27 trillion B2B transaction volume is 2022 transpired either via cash or cheques, or rather checks for our American audience.

Rife with downsides and stocked with only a handful of upsides, paper-based B2B transactions are doing everything short of finding a voice and begging for change; a change that Berlin’s Monite is looking to spearhead in America.

Feature forward

Founded in 2020 and announcing the onboarding of €1.1 million in pre-seed funding in early 2021, Monite’s raison d'être simple — help B2B platforms including established banks, new banks, payment providers, and SaaS embed financial workflows such as invoicing, payables automation, expense management, and accounting for their clients.

Via a series of APIs and SDKs, Monite says that it can offer clients a new way of working in as little as four to five weeks with no need to invent the in-house wheel, a process that can take up to two years at a cost ranging between $1 to $2 million.

Already servicing some 28 clients across the EU, US, and other regions, the latest investment will see the company increase its focus on product development and expand its suite of embeddable financial services, specifically for US B2B platforms and their customers.

According to Monite, it was the company’s 10x increase in MRR in combination with a year-over-year growth rate of 5x that caught the eye of Thiel and Co. Valar Ventures’ founding partner James Fitzgerald elaborates:

"The SMB market remains underserved, especially within finance automation. We see many startups and incumbents attacking this problem, but Monite's unique infrastructure lets companies add bill pay, invoicing and other payment solutions to their offering quickly and cheaply simply through Monite's APIs. 

“It also enables platforms serving SMBs to add new revenue streams by offering their clients more real value. Monite's customisable embedded workflows for B2B platforms align perfectly with our vision of how finance automation will be evolving in the next years."

Lead image: Ivan Maryasin, CEO and founder of Monite. Photo: Uncredited.