Worth: Fintech Startup Founded by Stax Payments Siblings Raises $20M

Worth Secures $20 Million Seed Funding to Streamline SMB Underwriting

Worth, a company dedicated to simplifying the underwriting process for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) for fintech companies, banks, and enterprises, has announced a $20 million seed funding round, as confirmed exclusively to TechCrunch.

A Significant Investment in a Challenging Climate

This represents a substantial seed investment, particularly given the current economic environment where securing capital is increasingly difficult. The founders’ prior success likely contributed to this outcome.

Sal Rehmetullah and Suneera Madhani, siblings and co-founders, previously established Stax Payments, another fintech venture. They successfully exited Stax after a decade, with the company reaching a valuation exceeding $1.1 billion, according to Madhani. This growth was fueled by over $140 million in recurring revenue and $245 million in funding. (While Stax continues operations, the pair have not been involved in its management for over two years.)

Focus on Frictionless SMB Onboarding

Now, they are leveraging their experience to expand Orlando, Florida-based Worth, which aims to deliver a “frictionless” experience for SMBs seeking credit products, loans, or financing.

“Currently, consumers can often apply for a credit card, like an Apple Card, on their mobile device and begin using it almost immediately. The process is instant and straightforward,” Madhani explained. “However, the experience for a small business applying for similar financial products – credit cards, financing, merchant services, or even a new bank account – is markedly different.”

Madhani further noted that SMBs frequently encounter lengthy and complex application procedures, requiring extensive documentation and enduring significant delays – sometimes weeks – before receiving a decision.

Worth’s Technology: A Solution to Existing Challenges

Worth asserts that its technology addresses these issues, enabling SMBs to experience reduced paperwork, fewer abandoned applications, minimized delays, and accelerated approvals when applying for credit or loans. The company claims to facilitate the rapid and effortless pre-filling, onboarding, and underwriting of small businesses using only three key pieces of information: name, address, and tax ID.

This is achieved through automated data pre-population and the streamlining of all necessary financial institution verification processes, as detailed by Rehmetullah. These processes encompass Know Your Business (KYB), Know Your Customer (KYC), identity verification, fraud detection, bank account validation, and real-time financial statement analysis.

Worth’s capabilities extend globally, supporting verification for SMBs and business owners beyond the United States.

Leveraging AI and Equifax Data

Having launched its product a year ago, Worth has integrated artificial intelligence and a strategic partnership with Equifax to create a unique data repository encompassing over 242 million global SMBs. This data is compiled from sources like bank accounts, tax filings, QuickBooks, and Stripe, and is continuously updated.

This allows Worth to provide financial institutions, credit unions, payment processors, and fintechs with real-time data insights, according to Neil Kapur, partner at TTV Capital, the lead investor in the startup’s equity raise.

“We possess comprehensive financial data for small businesses, a resource that has historically been unavailable,” Rehmetullah stated.

Growth and Revenue

While specific revenue figures remain undisclosed, the founders informed TechCrunch that the startup’s Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is in the “seven-figure” range, with growth “exceeding triple digits.” They also reported adding 12 new customers in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Currently, Worth serves over 25 clients, including Aurora Payments, REPAY Holdings, Fairwinds, and PatientFi.

Revenue Model

The company generates revenue through a platform fee granting access to pre-filling features, instant verification services, a case management system, ongoing monitoring, and AI-powered functionalities. Additionally, a per-entity verification fee is applied.

Future Plans: Introducing the “Worth Score”

Looking forward, Worth intends to launch a “Worth Score,” a business credit score, directly to SMBs in early 2026, aiming to empower them with a clearer understanding of their financial standing.

The company currently employs over 50 full-time personnel.

Investment Details

TTV Capital spearheaded the equity raise, with participation from Ingeborg, Florida Funders, Deep Work Capital, and Florida Opportunity Fund. Worth also secured $5 million in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank.

The newly acquired capital will be primarily allocated to scaling the organization, particularly within sales and marketing.

Investor Confidence

TTV’s Kapur believes Worth is enhancing operational efficiency for its customers through automation, delivering “immediate and quantifiable ROI.” He also expressed confidence in the founding team’s ability to address the challenges of onboarding and underwriting for financial institutions.

“TTV’s investment is as much in the founders as it is in the concept itself,” he emphasized to TechCrunch.