Tradeshift-raises-240M-and-appears-to-put-its-exp #

Tradeshift%20raises%20$240M%20and%20appears%20to%20put%20its%20exp%20a554111d847b4eb08246034ac92257e3/tradeshift.png Tradeshift — the startup which set out to disrupt the traditional arena of supply chain payments and marketplaces when it first appeared in 2008 — has today announced a new funding round of $240 million in equity and debt, raised from a combination of existing and new investors. The funding will be used to help accelerate its growth and, it says, set the company “on a direct path to profitability in the near future.” That last line is telling, as the new funding comes in the context of what was widely held to be a window of opportunity for Tradeshift to head toward an IPO. What this new funding means it that Tradeshift is effectively delaying its IPO to get its “house in order” in the context of a new economic environment that has become skeptical toward tech IPOs in the wake of the WeWork debacle, which saw public investors cool toward new tech company listings. In a statement, the company said it has reported more than two years of strong growth in quarterly revenue, and recorded its best-ever year in 2019, including more than 60% revenue growth, with more than 250 deals closed (the average deal size was doubled). Tradeshift said the additional capital will be used to further momentum it has seen across core product lines, including Tradeshift Pay, which was ranked in 2019 as the strongest ePayables SaaS solution in the industry by analyst firm Ardent Partners, and Tradeshift Go, with more than 200 new customers signed in 2019. But it’s also important that we manage that growth responsibly.” I asked him what he meant by “networked.” Lang believes we are moving “from cloud businesses to networked businesses,” where, instead of companies, like Microsoft having one single solution but also offering a variety of other products (such as LinkedIn and Skype), people and businesses will opt more for single-use tools. Previous investors in the company have included Goldman Sachs, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), HSBC, H14, GP Bullhound, Gray Swan, a venture company established by Tradeshift’s founders, American Express Ventures, the CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund, Notion Capital, Santander InnoVentures and others.