Align Commerce, the global payments platform for small businesses, recently announced it has closed a $24 million Series B funding round and renamed the company to Veem. The investment, led by National Australia Bank (NAB) Ventures, includes GV (formerly Google Ventures) and SBI Investment Co., Ltd. and will help Veem expand into more countries, enable payments in additional currencies, and continue to transform the global payment process for SMBs. Melissa Widner, general partner, NAB Ventures, will also join Veem’s board. Existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and Silicon Valley Bank also participated in the Series B round. Rebranding to Veem supports the company’s commitment to modernizing the way small businesses send and receive payments.
Cross-border payments is a market value at $25 trillion. SMBs represent $6 trillion of that but pay $50 billion in fees due to outmoded wire transfer systems that are transparent and awkward. Veem’s platform provides SMBs with an end-to-end payment experience that is simple, trackable and integrated into the rest of the businesses’ processes. It also allows businesses to make Veem payments between multiple geographies and in various currencies without worrying about where their money is.
Marwan Forzley, CEO and founder of Veem, stated: “At Veem, we understand even ‘mom and pop’ businesses must embrace globalization to compete with incumbents, grow their businesses and innovate. Unfortunately, the current international payments experience is fundamentally broken, stifling SMBs’ globalization efforts. Our platform creates an experience that is simple and frictionless, allowing businesses to easily Veem payments, data and invoices across the globe.”
The global payments industry is currently involves multiple financial institutions and currency exchanges. Businesses struggle with this system, due to its numerous fees; limited view of payment timing, related invoice or commitment on amount delivered to either sender or receiver, and no ownership of delivery. Additionally, delivery forms can be complex and banks may require phone calls or in-person visits to send money. By intelligently routing payments between different rails, including blockchain, Veem’s multi-rail technology connects the disparate parts of the international payment process, enabling them to send and receive payments using only an email address.
General partner at NAB Ventures, Melissa Widner said: “Many companies exist in a crowded international payments market today, but none have been able to distill the complexities of the space into an easy solution. Veem goes beyond the domain of foreign exchange-focused organizations and remittance companies by approaching global payments from a non-traditional point of view. This unique perspective has allowed for Veem’s growth and rapid expansion into global markets, and we expect their team and technology to continue to challenge the global payments status quo.”
Karim Faris, general partner at GV, remarked: “Paying international suppliers/partners is complicated, particularly for small & midsize businesses. Veem is in a great position to simplify global payments. The team has deep experience in this space and has taken a smart technical approach to the problem. They’ve successfully reduced the process required to reliably move money around the world to a few steps.”
