We’ve raised a $32.2 million round of Series B financing, led by Bain Capital Ventures, in support of our mission to increase the rate of small business success across the United States.
This round of financing is a big milestone, only made possible by small businesses—like yours—who rely on us for their everyday banking needs. We’re grateful to you as we hit another big milestone back in April: we passed 100,000 customers.
It’s clear to me why businesses are making the switch to Relay. 68% of U.S. small business owners report having cash flow problems, and half operate with just 27 days of cash buffer. They’re on a cashflow tightrope, with no toolset that supports them in a meaningful, fundamental way.
Relay is that support.
I hear every day how we’re having a clear and direct impact on the success and survival of small businesses across the United States. Like the salon owner in California who, after 14 years, hit a serious financial crisis that threatened her business. Then, she discovered Relay and Profit First, and is on track to turn her business around in less than 6 months.
Or like the Missouri-based marketing agency owner who found himself missing bills and coming short on payroll—despite being profitable—because he was stuck with an outdated system. Today, he banks with Relay and has even saved up cash for a new venture.
Small business owners face existential threats every single day, and most of the time, they have to brave it alone. Small businesses are also responsible for 44% of the U.S. GDP and over half of all employment. They need financial visibility not only to survive and thrive, but to take care of their teams and impact those around them—to ensure payroll arrives on time, mission-critical bills get paid, and cash is reinvested wisely.
We built Relay for them, and this capital will only further our ability to deliver for them.
What Relay delivers for business owners
Small businesses have to build sustainably and manage their finances with clarity and precision, because most of them do not have deep pockets—and any cash buffer they create, they do on their own. We believe that financial success for entrepreneurs comes from at least two ingredients: tools that enable financial visibility, and communities that can guide them toward better financial outcomes.
Tools that finally make money make sense
Relay gives business owners what they need: money management tools to get insights and make smarter decisions quickly. This means access to online banking that functions from anywhere, deep integrations with QuickBooks Online and Xero, rich data that gives you real insight about transactions, secure collaboration between business owners, their teams and advisors, and world-class support.
“Relay saved the day in a huge way and allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief. And so, in that moment, when nothing else was working, Relay was the thing that did." — Madeline Pratt
To deliver on this mission, over the past year we launched several key products that support essential small business functions, including:
Cash flow control. We released automated savings accounts. In addition to Relay’s 20 checking accounts and auto-transfer rules that let business owners organize and earmark cash, they can automatically set aside cash from their operating account into a savings account and earn 1.00-3.00% APY*.
Clarity into team spending. With our receipt management feature, Relay customers and their teams can set spending policies and collect and store receipts with every purchase, eliminating the need for expense reports.
Spend management for small business teams. A smart credit card just launched (currently invite-only), giving SMBs up to 1.5% cash back, and enabling team spend controls based on category, project and vendor.
Communities committed to financial intelligence
Along with best-in-class money management tools, small businesses thrive when they are surrounded by supportive communities. That’s why we’ve invested heavily into a partnership with Profit First, as well as our community of small business advisors, accountants and bookkeepers.
Accountants and bookkeepers. Advisors have always been core to our mission at Relay. They are the people who guide small business owners through cash flow challenges and ensure entrepreneurial success in a material way. That’s why, earlier this year, we launched a new and improved Partner Program for accountants and bookkeepers. As part of the program, we’re building an Advisor Directory—launching in June—to connect more Relay customers with qualified advisors.
Profit First. Since becoming the official banking platform for Profit First, we’ve seen thousands of businesses adopt Mike Michalowicz’s cash management methodology on Relay’s platform, and get instant clarity into their cash flow. We’ve also fostered connections and educational sessions between small businesses and advisors, ran our first-ever Reasons To Be Profitable contest, started the 100K Profit Club, and heard from countless small businesses how impactful the partnership has been.
"The best bank for Profit First Companies. Relay is phenomenal. Not only is it easy to set up and use, the ability to make one transfer to multiple accounts and divide it up by percentages is life-changing. The transaction detail, virtual cards, and accountant access are simply icing on the cake! I highly recommend setting up your account(s) ASAP" — Lydia Joy Paasch
What comes next
We’re building an all-in-one financial command center for small businesses—one place where business owners can go to understand their cash position, manage back-office processes, and collaborate with their teams on key financial workflows. We’re doing it in two stages.
Complete financial suite
Today, many of our customers use Relay as the source of truth for their business finances, logging in on average 13+ times per month. Relay is where they go to get a pulse on their cash flow position, and they expect more financial products in this suite. We believe we have an obligation to deliver them. So, we’re building an expanded suite of credit products, with a line of credit to come—offering more flexible solutions to cash flow management. And we’re also improving our spend management tools, from accounts payable to employee permissions.
Real-time cashflow analytics
The future of small business banking is smart. We’re building a platform that deeply integrates with your entire back-office system, enabling rich data and providing predictive insights about your cash flow. You run your entire business on Relay and make cash flow decisions on the move.
We have a big, ambitious mission and there is so much more to build.
Building the next chapter
I’m inspired by the work that the entire Relay team has done to help us get here, and the outcomes we deliver for small business owners. We grew 3x in 2022 and nearly 6x in 2023—and did so because of a relentless focus on truly serving Heart of America small businesses like yours.
Raising a Series B is great news to share—but it’s just the beginning of our journey. The real validation is how we’ll put it to work for our customers, and that's what we’ll continue to do.
Can’t wait to build this next chapter of business banking with all of you.
- Yoseph West, Co-Founder & CEO, Relay
Join our State of Small Business Summit
We’re celebrating the funding announcement with an inaugural Relay Studio Session, How to Win Through Smart Business Finance. In this virtual event, we’ll host a panel of industry experts—including business leaders from Shopify and Relay—for an in-depth look at the state of small businesses. We’ll share a live case study highlighting one of the most important relationships a business owner can cultivate, and show how it led to explosive growth for one entrepreneur. And we’ll introduce a brand new resource to help you tap into a wealth of invaluable industry expertise: the Relay Advisor Directory.
