Toronto-based cloud accounting software FreshBooks has announced that JPMorgan Chase & Co. has made a strategic investment in the company. The investment amount was not disclosed, but a representative of FreshBooks told BetaKit this round represented “the most significant investment so far” for the startup.
“Helping software companies like FreshBooks grow by serving our small business customer base is a key differentiator for us.”
This investment from JPMorgan Chase follows two previous institutional funding rounds for FreshBooks, including a $40 million CAD ($30 million USD) Series A round in 2014, and a $57 million CAD ($43 million USD) Series B in 2017. As part of the new deal, a JPMorgan Chase representative will be joining FreshBooks’ board of directors. Freshbooks said it will use the new funds to continue to expand operations and its business reach.
“Our mission is to reshape the world to suit the needs of self-employed professionals and their teams,” said Mike McDerment, CEO and co-founder at FreshBooks. “We see a significant opportunity to combine the strength and scale of JPMorgan Chase’s banking and payments capabilities with FreshBooks’ expertise in software design to create mass adoption for small businesses, and propel us closer to achieving that world.”
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Founded in 2002, FreshBooks claims it has served over 20 million customers in 160 countries to send invoices, track time, manage expenses and get paid online. Since the company redesigned its platform in 2016, it has added over 100 new apps and integrations for its customers. These apps and integrations include G Suite by Google Cloud, Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Everlance, MailChimp, ZenDesk, Proposify, Trello, Basecamp, and Asana.
In February, FreshBooks added bank reconciliation and double-entry accounting to its software in an effort to allow service-based businesses to scale on FreshBooks, as well as work with an accountant and be prepared for tax season. JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, with $2.535 trillion in assets as of 2018.
“FreshBooks is one of the smartest, easiest-to-use software options for small businesses, and we’re thrilled we can support their growth with this investment,” said Bill Clerico, head of SMB product for Chase Merchant Services, and CEO of WePay.
“Since earlier this year, our 4 million Chase for Business customers have been able to sign up for FreshBooks through our small business marketplace and we’ve seen lots of demand. Helping software companies like FreshBooks grow by serving our small business customer base is a key differentiator for us in the fast-growing integrated payments market.”
Image courtesy Startup Canada.