serial-founders-raise-$26m-series-a-for-new-b2b-saas-purchasing-platform

Serial founders raise $26m Series A for new B2B SaaS purchasing platform

 

Vertice, a tech-enabled SaaS purchasing company based in London, has today emerged from stealth to help businesses around the world reduce their annual software spend and simplify the purchasing process. This announcement follows Vertice raising a $26 million Series A round led by 83North and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Vertice was founded by serial entrepreneurs Roy and Eldar Tuvey. The brothers have two decades of experience running enterprise SaaS companies, most notably founding ScanSafe and Wandera, which exited for $200m (Cisco) and $400m (JAMF). This background inspired the Tuveys to apply their deep market knowledge and first-hand experience to radically improve the process of purchasing SaaS products.

Vertice is designed to help businesses intelligently reduce their annual software spend by 20-30%, as well as streamlining the purchasing process. Designed for finance, IT and procurement teams, the solution addresses the continuous uptick in the cost of SaaS applications, in addition to the complexities that businesses face in monitoring and managing their software stacks.

Vertice has been operating in stealth mode since the second half of 2021, working closely with a group of selected European organisations to stress-test its solution, helping ensure that the company is releasing a robust, proven product into the marketplace.

The funding will be used to accelerate Vertice’s growth, including expanding the engineering and commercial teams, helping further develop the platform and accelerate global revenue growth.

83North and Bessemer Venture Partners led the round which also includes an impressive cohort of eight angel investors – all founders of high growth, tech, fintech and enterprise SaaS companies. Featured angel investors include Juan Lobato, founder and co-CEO at Ebury; Omri Dahan, former CRO at Marqeta; Ronni Zehavi, co-founder and CEO at Hibob; Tom Ryan, co-founder and CEO at Pluto TV; Yuval Tal, former founder and CEO at Payoneer; and Bastian Nominacher, co-CEO and co-founder at Celonis.

“Vertice is solving a significant pain point for companies by reducing the friction and costs associated with managing SaaS renewals. 83North has invested in many teams enabling process simplification and enhancement in the enterprise. Vertice is one of those special companies where the founders’ backgrounds and proven execution make it a very unique investment and we are delighted to be backing them again” said Laurel Bowden, partner at 83North.

Globally, annual SaaS spend is projected to surpass $145 billion in 2022, according to Gartner. This would mark a 19% increase compared with 2021, following a 23% increase in 2021 over 2020.

“SaaS costs are rising at an extremely rapid rate, and companies everywhere are struggling to keep their budgets under control and manage their complex renewal schedules,” said Eldar Tuvey, Vertice co-CEO and co-founder. “We have engineered Vertice to radically simplify SaaS purchasing, eliminating wasted cycles and freeing up finance teams to focus on core areas of the business.”

Only 75% of SaaS companies disclose their prices, according to 2021 research by Valueships. Utilizing a wide data set of market transactions, Vertice negotiates SaaS contracts on clients’ behalf to secure better prices on their renewals and new purchases.

“As a result of the proliferation of SaaS products, the customers of these SaaS vendors are not equipped to handle some of the novel challenges that arise” said Adam Fisher, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “We are excited about backing Vertice as they work on behalf of SaaS customer in what we believe is a multi-billion market opportunity.”

The newly-announced company has already recruited an experienced team across seven countries to help realize the Tuveys’ vision, with a digital-first, hybrid workforce centered on a London-based headquarters.

contis-and-bitpanda-issue-multi-asset-debit-card

Contis and Bitpanda issue multi-asset debit card

 

A new Visa debit card from European neobroker Bitpanda launched this week. Combining Contis’ unique “zero-balance” Buffer technology with Bitpanda’s European-wide, multi-service platform has created one of the most powerful multi-asset propositions available – the Bitpanda Card.

New ‘zero balance’ technology removes the need to liquidate assets before spending. Any digital assets a user has in their Bitpanda account can now be converted automatically to fiat at point-of sale, both online and in store, wherever Visa is accepted.

With more than 55 digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, precious metals and fiat available to hold on the Bitpanda platform, this card pushes the boundaries of crypto and asset spending in Europe. The card can be linked to any asset in a user’s Bitpanda portfolio and through the app, cardholders can easily switch, say from cryptocurrency to gold, and spend in real-time.

Contis Executive Chairman, Peter Cox, said: “Crypto continues to move forward at pace, and Contis is proud to spearhead the charge with partners such as Bitpanda. We’ve seen record levels of crypto investing this past year and cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used as an everyday currency as well as an asset.

“Combining the practicality of fiat with the benefits of blockchain has helped prove the long-term legitimacy of digital finance. A card that allows seamless spending is one of the leading-edge innovations for crypto accounts.

“We’re seeing considerable uptake among crypto providers for card products that include ‘zero balance’ capabilities. In partnership with Contis, industry leaders such as Bitpanda continue to drive innovation in spending crypto and deliver cutting edge products for their customers.”

Eric Demuth, co-founder and CEO of Bitpanda, said: “Launching the Bitpanda Card together with Contis is another step in our leading vision of the personal finance revolution, allowing everyone to spend any of their assets, be that with crypto, metals, or fiat, as they please – easily, 24/7. No topping up is required. Everything that holds value should be treated equally and should be possible to use as you wish. The Bitpanda Card is the missing piece of the puzzle in the world of digital finance.”