Financial planning startup Vena Solutions has closed $25 million USD in growth capital financing from CIBC Innovation Banking.
The capital comes in the form of a multi-part credit facility. The loan is meant to help support the startup amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with Vena CFO Darrell Cox calling the facility a “very low-cost buffer in uncertain times.”
“This facility allows us to further extend our growth and gives us more flexibility.”
Cox told BetaKit that this year some of the industries and customers Vena serves were “hard hit” by the COVID-19 pandemic. “That’s had an impact on us,” the CFO stated.
“That said, I count us as one of the luckier companies whose value proposition actually becomes more important in uncertain times like these,” Cox added, noting that Vena also plans to use the loan to fund “general operations” as well as with the expansion of the startup’s “product content and market reach.”
Vena is a Toronto-based financial software startup. Founded in 2011, Vena provides cloud-based financial planning and analysis (FP&A) to medium and large-sized companies. Its technology aids in the management of budgeting, forecasting and business planning. The startup currently has more than 800 customers from around the world.
The $25 million from CIBC follows a $115 million equity financing round that Vena raised in early 2019. JMI Equity led the round, which saw participation from Centana Growth Partners, the firm that led Vena’s $30 million financing in 2016. Vena’s total venture funding raised to date is $150 million CAD.
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When asked about the decision to bring on the CIBC facility following its record-breaking raise in 2019, Cox told BetaKit, “Vena is always working to a cash flow break-even business plan and we are currently ahead of this plan in terms of cash and growth. This facility allows us to further extend our growth and gives us more flexibility when thinking about whether we want to raise more equity when the conditions are right.”
Cox also noted that the company has been on a “steep upward trajectory” of late.
Over the last year, Vena has seen turnover in its executive leadership team. Hunter Madeley joined as Vena’s CEO in August 2019, replacing founding CEO Don Mal.
Madeley was formerly an executive at HubSpot and VP of commercial sales for Salesforce. Mal was set to stay on in an advisory and support role at Vena. He currently serves as executive chairman of Toronto-based Fluence Technologies.
At the time of the transition, Vena noted that under Mal’s leadership it was “the fastest growing company in its sector,” recording five straight years of triple-digit growth.
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Vena’s fellow co-founders Rishi Grover (chief solutions architect) and George Papayiannis (CTO) have stayed on with the company since Mal’s departure.
In February, Vena made two additional executive-level hires to help support its next stage of growth. Allison Munro joined as CMO and Tina Goulbourne, formerly of Apple, became Vena’s COO.
Madeley noted at the time that the two executives are set to play a critical role in “taking Vena to the next level as a global leader in FP&A software and finance process management.”
Earlier this year, Vena also opened an additional Toronto office that was set to house its sales team.
