Behalf


Behalf offers short-term financing with flexible repayment terms to U.S. based businesses. Behalf pays vendors directly, on behalf of the small business, for the purchase of goods or services. Behalf has headquarters in New York and, in 2015, raised $119 million in Series B funding

Overview

Since the recession of 2008 small businesses and entrepreneurs have a difficult time gaining access to financing. Alternative finance companies emerged to fill the void the credit crunch creates.
Behalf's solution offers microloans to small business ranging between $300-$50,000 for up to 180 days with interest rates of $10-$30 per $1000 per month. The online financing platform works as a line of credit, so businesses only pay interest on the amount of credit they use to fund their purchases.
By paying vendors up front, on behalf of businesses, Behalf eliminates the vendors’ credit risk. Vendors get paid on day one, bringing their days outstanding to zero, and removing their responsibility for collections.

Company history

Behalf is a FinTech company that was founded in 2011 by Benjy Feinberg, Shai Feinberg and Jeremy Esekow. In April 2013 Behalf raised $10 million in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital and Spark Capital. In July 2015 Behalf raised $119 million from Mission OG, Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, Maverick Ventures and Victory Park Capital.

The Technology

Qualifying for Behalf funding doesn’t require any paperwork. Instead, the online application asks for only four pieces of information: the business owner's name, address, business address and social security number. Behalf's proprietary algorithm quickly decides who qualifies for funding, and how much credit they can use to pay their vendors.

Partnerships

In January 2015 Behalf announced a partnership with MasterCard and Comdata. This partnership enables small business financing with almost any vendor that accepts MasterCard.

The Better Business Bureau Review

As of February 2016, the Better Business Bureau rates Behalf as A.

External Resources