Toronto-based financial services provider Wave has acquired Every, a FinTech startup that provides business accounts and debit cards to small businesses. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Our modern approach to deposit accounts and card products…has the potential to reduce a lot of friction for small business owners.”
Wave said the acquisition will advance plans to further integrate financial products directly into its suite of services. The company also noted that it was impressed by Toronto-based Every’s vision of simplifying small business banking, and that Every’s company culture and geographic proximity were key factors in choosing to combine the teams.
“With Every joining Wave, we are moving one step closer to being able to serve our customers entire small business financial needs by adding business accounts and card products to our existing offering,” said Les Whiting, Chief Financial Services Officer of Wave. “Wave and Every share a vision on how small business finances for entrepreneurs should actually work.”
Every provides entrepreneurs online business bank accounts through a Visa debit card. The account connects to services like Shopify, Stripe, Bitpay, and Square, while carrying out typical banking functions like transferring money and sending cheques, depositing funds, and paying bills.
Wave provides a suite of financial services and online software for small businesses. The company manages more than $244 billion in income and expense transactions for its customers, including $16 billion in annual invoicing.
Focusing specifically on small and micro businesses, Wave provides financial services like payments and payroll, embedded in free software, which specializes in accounting, invoicing, receipt scanning, and personal finance. Wave’s team has grown by over 60 people in the past year, and Whiting said the company will be supplementing both the Wave and the Every team with additional new team members in the coming weeks and months.
“Wave already moves billions of dollars every year for our customers through our payment, payroll and credit products,” Whiting said. “We are not announcing anything specifically today, but you can imagine that deeply integrated business accounts and debit cards can let our customers get their money faster, and provide enhanced visibility when they spend their money.”
Wave was founded in 2009 and launched in 2010 by Kirk Simpson and James Lochrie, who both sought to create a free accounting software for small businesses. In May 2017, Wave raised $32 million CAD from National Australia Bank, RBC, Portag3, and Exhibition Capital. In October 2017, the company partnered with RBC to integrate invoicing, accounting, and business financial insights into RBC’s online business banking platform.
In June, Every raised a $600,000 angel round as it looked to expand its banking platform for online entrepreneurs. Every is currently available in limited beta in the United States.
“Joining Wave is going to accelerate all aspects of our vision for Every. The team at Wave have done an incredible job simplifying finances for entrepreneurs and we know together we will have a huge impact on the lives of small business owners by joining their team,” said Jeremy Black, CEO and co-founder of Every. “Our modern approach to deposit accounts and card products, combined with Wave’s suite of financial products has the potential to reduce a lot of friction for small business owners.”
Image courtesy Wave & Every.
