rho Raises $15M Series A to Fuel Growth for High-Growth Businesses

Rho Technologies, a financial technology firm located in New York City and the creator of Rho Business Banking, has secured $15 million in Series A funding. This investment round was spearheaded by M13 Ventures, with additional participation from Torch Capital and Inspired Capital. The company intends to utilize these funds to continue developing its commercial banking platform, designed for rapidly expanding businesses, beginning with the introduction of Rho AP today. This platform is designed for organizations seeking greater control over their business banking operations and aligns well with the increasingly distributed work environment that has emerged following the pandemic.

Since obtaining funding and launching in December 2020, the platform reports processing over $2 billion annually in transaction volume for its customer base. Rho AP builds upon the existing core banking platform by allowing businesses to manage complete accounts payable processes directly within Rho. This includes invoice uploading, approval workflows, coding, and payment execution – all consolidated within a single platform. As a result, companies can eliminate the need for separate payables solutions alongside their banking services.

Rho’s strategy centers around a unified solution that combines collaborative financial software with full-service commercial banking capabilities. The company was established by Everett Cook, formerly of Point72 and Deutsche Bank (now CEO), and Alex Wheldon, a British-Canadian entrepreneur with a history of successful ventures. Banking services are delivered through Evolve Bank and Trust, a member of the FDIC.

According to Cook, “Our focus at Rho is to provide the tools that enable teams within growing companies to succeed. We’ve created a modern commercial banking platform that reflects how businesses function today: in a distributed manner, with a focus on teamwork, transparency, and scalability. Rho AP represents the next phase in our commitment to helping teams collaborate more effectively when it comes to financial matters.”

Latif Peracha, a general partner at M13 and a member of Rho’s board of directors, stated: “We recognized Rho’s strong market fit when we observed that numerous companies within our investment portfolio – representing diverse industries and sizes – had chosen Rho for their banking requirements. We are confident in the potential to establish a leading brand in business banking that prioritizes the needs of enterprises, and particularly the CFO, as a valued customer. Rho has achieved this through a comprehensive, integrated product that simplifies business management.”

Wheldon explained: “Through my experience building and growing several businesses, I consistently encountered challenges with commercial banking. Rho is designed to empower entire organizations to work more cohesively by eliminating the traditional barriers and inefficiencies often associated with financial processes.”