SMB payments tech company Apron raises $30M in Series B

Apron, a leader in business payments, has raised $30 million for its Series B funding round, in order to bring greater security to the cash flow of small businesses by digitising and simplifying payments.

In our last article about technology, Zyla Accountants reviewed Apron in our last article about technology. This company is on an upward trajectory, so there's even more incentive to get on board.

Zinal Growth, a growth-stage tech fund backed by Checkout.com's founder, led the investment. As part of the round, Apron's existing investors Index Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners participated, as well as iPod inventor Tony Fadell, Principal at Build Collective.

In small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), receiving and making payments are common pain points. A typical SMB owner spends 20% of their working week issuing, paying, and managing invoices and the associated admin that surrounds them*. The time spent dealing with these payments is not a guarantee that the company will succeed. Cash flow issues cause more than four out of five small and medium-sized businesses to fail in the UK.

Invoices are received, sorted, approved, paid, and reconciled in seconds using Apron. By taking a ‘town square’ approach in which suppliers, buyers and their accountants can manage payments between themselves smoothly and seamlessly, Apron helps SMBs reduce the time and effort spent arranging and chasing payments, so they can focus on serving their customers and growing.

Customers can pay anyone, whether their employees or suppliers, using Apron's proprietary payments platform. A business can also easily integrate Apron with its existing accounting tools (Xero or Quickbooks) for instant reconciliation of payments.

Apron was founded in late 2021 by Bogdan Uzbekov, a former Revolut product leader, and has been rapidly expanding through word-of-mouth. The number of SMB customers served by Apron has increased over 20x since the company secured a $15m Series A in September 2023. Apron's platform processes thousands of invoices and millions of payments every day, helping businesses save time and get back to what they do best.

Founder of Checkout.com and Chairman of Zinal Growth, Guillaume Pousaz, commented: “We’ve been deeply impressed by the execution and vision of Bogdan and the Apron team. They have created a delightful product for both SMBs and accountants, and we are excited to continue supporting them on their journey.”

Luca Schmid, Managing Partner of Zinal Growth, said: “We believe Apron is solving a key pain point that SMB owners know only too well, making managing payments an efficient and enjoyable experience. We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Apron as they enter the next phase of their journey.”

Bogdan Uzbekov, Founder & CEO of Apron, comments: “Every business we speak to is looking for consumer-grade quality in their B2B software. It doesn’t make sense to them that, in their personal lives, payments can be made and received instantly, but that in business the process is long-winded, siloed and not fit for purpose. With new investment and expertise on board, we’re excited to bring new talent into the team to innovate, design and build the sort of B2B payments experience that truly flips payments from painful to powerful.”

Proceeds from the investment will be used to expand Apron's engineering and product teams ahead of significant milestones on its 2025 roadmap. With the launch of a new product, Apron will specifically cater to larger suppliers that issue invoices to thousands of SMB customers, enabling them to collect revenue and get paid faster. A new expense management solution tailored for SMBs will also be launched alongside the Bill Pay product in response to customer demand for alternatives to market incumbents.

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