FinTech News
Rainforest Announces $20 Million Funding Round
A payment provider built for software platforms has raised a sizeable Series A.
About the round:
Rainforest has announced that it has raised $20 million in new funding. The over-subscribed Series A was led by Matrix Partners with returning investors Accel, Infinity Ventures, BoxGroup, The Fintech Fund, Tech Square Ventures, and Ardent Venture Partners also participating. To date, Rainforest has now raised a total of $31.75 million in funding, including an $8.5 million seed round led by Accel in October 2023. As part of this latest deal, Matrix partner Matt Brown has joined the Rainforest Board of Directors.
With the funding, Rainforest says that it will be able to advance its tech and product offerings. It also plans to accelerate growth with new go-to-market initiatives.
About Rainforest:
Atlanta-based Rainforest is a payment-processing service built for software-as-a-service providers. According to the company’s site, businesses can use the platform for cards, ACH, next-day funding, etc. Before signing up, prospective customers can also use an ROI calculator on Rainforest’s site to get a better idea of how much the platform’s fees as well as interchange fees will cost.
Since its seed round last year, Rainforest has seen its payment volume increase 17-fold. Additionally, the service has added support for Apple Pay, streamlined merchant onboarding, and more.
What they’re saying:
Commenting specifically on how Rainforest differentiates itself from its larger competitors in the space, the company’s founder and CEO Joshua Silver said, “Historically, Stripe excelled at helping startups take their very first payment – but they’ve very publicly shifted their focus to large enterprises, leaving mid-market platforms to choose between a DIY Stripe solution built for early stage startups or cobbled-together solutions from a bevy of upstarts. These mid-market platforms tell us that, prior to Rainforest, it was impossible to find a payment provider that offers a full package of modern technology, platform-friendly commercials, and high-touch support.”
Silver added, “With Rainforest, software companies don’t have to sacrifice or choose between robust technology, excellent support, and attractive contract terms. By providing embedded payments via white glove service that’s risk-adjusted and customized for software platforms, we’re empowering more companies to focus on what they do best: building software that improves economies and experiences for everyone.”
My thoughts:
It’s interesting to me that Rainforst’s $20 million Series A comes on the heels of Gynger also raising a $20 million Series A. Granted, while the two companies are not identical, they do have similar concepts, with Rainforest offering payment processing for SaaS businesses and Gynger enabling technology providers (including software businesses) to offer financing options to their customers. This coincidence could suggest that a new hotspot in the FinTech market has emerged.