FreshBooks is a Toronto-based cloud accounting software company that focuses on SMBs. It recently underwent its Series E funding round to raise $80.75million and an additional $50million in debt financing. Accomplice which is an existing investor led the financing round. The company has called it “an inside round” and has elevated FreshBooks to unicorn status.
The financing round was also joined by J.P. Morgan, Gaingels, BMO Technology & Innovation Banking Group, and Manulife along with a new backer Barclays. After this round, the total funds raised by the company have crossed $200million.
FreshBooks makes it easier for small business owners and self-employed people in doing things like invoicing, expenses, payments, payroll, and financial reporting through its cloud-based accounting platform. The company claims that it has been of help to more than 30 million people in over 160 countries. FreshBooks was co-founded by Mike McDerment who coded his own solution for billing clients after he found Word and Excel frustrating. Now the company has almost 500 employees and it plans to use the new funds for sales and marketing, research and development, and acquisitions.
FreshBooks has shown considerable growth recently as the pandemic led to a rise in the number of new small businesses. Jeff Fagnan, founder, and managing partner at Accomplice has said after the funding that “With more people choosing self-employment, the FreshBooks team fundamentally believes in the growth of small businesses, and the importance of helping these businesses scale. As insiders, we have better context for how the company is scaling and how the market is growing, and this is why FreshBooks is our largest investment to date.”
