C2FO, “a global market for working capital” headquartered in Fairway, Kan., today announced it closed an $18 million growth round led by an investment firm founded by one of the world’s most well-known entrepreneurs.
San Francisco-based Mithril led the round, joined by Series B lead investor Union Square Ventures, along with Series A investors Summerhill Venture Partners and Kansas City-based OpenAir Equity Partners.
Mithril was co-founded by Peter Thiel—co-founder of PayPal and the first outside investor in Facebook—last June with a focus on investing its $537.7 million fund in “businesses that use technology to solve intractable problems, often in traditional sectors long overdue for innovation,” according to the press release.
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“We were looking for a partner with a global reach and a strong presence in financial technology and market structure,” said Alexander “Sandy” Kemper (right), C2FO founder and CEO. “Mithril brought this to the table and added the extra elements of keen product and tech understanding.”
Kemper told Silicon Prairie News that C2FO—run under Pollenware—was impressed by the entire leadership team and its strong history in the payment transaction business, citing Thiel’s experience at PayPal as just one part of the attraction.
C2FO’s web-based marketplace lets a company and its suppliers gather for live “collaborative cash flow optimization” (C2FO) events. During these events, a company’s suppliers offer percentage discounts on shipments of product in exchange for early payment on those shipments.
Throughout the events, Pollenware’s system provides instant metrics on how certain actions would affect a company’s bottom line and allows both sides of the bidding process to adjust their offers in real-time. C2FO has delivered more than $4 billion in early cash flow and created more than $300 million in new market capitalization for its clients, which include “Fortune 1000” companies across the globe.
Mithril prefers to invest in companies at their crucial growth stage, after early-stage investment but before the pre-IPO phase. They’ve seen a lack in the amount of capital available at that juncture and want to partner with companies ready to take off.
And C2FO certainly has grown quickly. Founded in 2008, the company has had 39 percent growth per month over the last three years, Kemper said. The team now sits at 40, with about 90 percent of them at the Fairway office (a suburb of Kansas City).
For more on C2FO, read our past coverage: “Pollenware raises $9.1 million round led by Union Square Ventures“
Credits: Kemper head shot from LinkedIn.
