Flex, an artificial intelligence-driven finance startup that positions itself as a consolidated banking solution for mid-sized business owners, said it secured $70 million in a financing round led by Halo Fund, a venture firm co-founded by Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and Accel partner Ryan Sweeney. The company itself did not provide a valuation figure when announcing the round.
However, a person with knowledge of the transaction said the B1 round valued the three-year-old company at around $1.2 billion, a figure that represents more than a twofold increase from its valuation six months earlier.
Funding and balance-sheet profile
Flex has now accumulated $180 million in equity financing and $300 million in debt financing since its founding. The company targets what CEO Zaid Rahman describes as "jumbo shrimps" - mid-sized businesses with annual revenues in the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars that, he says, are often overlooked by digital-first fintechs and primarily served by regional banks.
"In the U.S., there are maybe 350,000 to 400,000 business owners that manage 40% of America’s payroll. So that’s sort of in that segment," Rahman said. "Globally, it’s about 3 million business owners that manage 50% of the global economy. So, there’s a very large opportunity to be their kind of singular financial home."
Product positioning and customers
Rather than focusing on a single task such as accounting or expense management, Flex bundles a range of financial services into one platform. The company offers private credit, business finance, personal finance and payment tools, and provides AI agents - including a product called Beacon AI - that deliver a weekly financial read on a business.
Flex reported it has "a few thousand customers onboarded" and said it is expanding at roughly four-fold year-over-year. The company also stated it is operating at a nine-figure annualized revenue run rate.
Use of proceeds and operations
Flex plans to deploy the new capital to accelerate global expansion, boost marketing efforts and expand its workforce. The company intends to more than double headcount to over 200 employees by the end of the year, up from about 110 at present. Returning investors in the round include Portage Ventures and Crosslink Capital.
At the same time as the funding announcement, Flex launched Flex Global, a service that leverages stablecoins to transfer funds across more than 100 countries in minutes and allows business owners to hold balances in 32 currencies.
Outlook
The financing and product rollout underscore Flex’s focus on serving mid-sized enterprises with a consolidated, AI-enhanced suite of financial services and faster cross-border payments. The company’s growth metrics, capital structure and hiring plans indicate a push to scale its platform internationally.