Elevation Capital led the Series B financing for Zeni, a Palo Alto fintech startup that provides real-time financial data to venture-backed companies. It raised $34 Million.Five months ago, Zeni had announced $13.5 million in a combination seed and series A round. Since its inception in 2019, the company has raised $47.5million.New investors Think Investments joined Elevation in the new round, along with existing investors Saama Capital and Amit Singhal. Ravi Adusumalli (founder and managing partner of Elevation Capital) will join Zenis board as part of the investment.After selling their previous company, Mezi (a travel concierge), to American Express in 2018, the Shinde siblings founded the company. Zenis AI-powered financial concierge platform offers bookkeeping and accounting services as well as tax and CFO management. The monthly fee starts at $299. The Zeni Dashboard gives founders real-time financial insight, including cash in, out, operating expenses and financial projections. They can also download financial data in any slice they desire.The company managed more than $200 million per month in funds at the time of the Series A seed/Series A round. That has risen to over $500 million now, CEO Swapnil Shinde said to TechCrunch. The company's customers include pre-revenue startups and businesses that generate more than $100 million annually.Snehal Shinde (chief product officer) stated that the company created a search function to track transactions, spend, and income trends for every vendor and customer, in addition to cash in and out analysis.Zeni saw a 550% increase in revenue year-over-year. However, the company's customer base grew by 375% due to referrals, Swapnil Shinde stated.The siblings were surprised by the Series B despite the growth. Swapnil Shinde stated that the company was already well capitalized and had a large portion of its previous round left.Zeni started receiving inbound inquires so often that it became too exciting for him to ignore. The addition of Elevation capital as an investor was a big plus. Shinde stated that this was attractive because the firm is an investor in Paytm and has experience building unicorns.This new funding will be used for scaling and building bookkeeping and accounting functions, and to increase hiring in the engineering, finance, and sales verticals. Shinde hopes to double or triple the size of the finance team within the next year.Swapnil Shinde said that as our customers grow to Series B, you will be able to use our solution in real-time to monitor what's happening to your finances. This is especially important for startups and companies with remote workers. Zeni is a good example of this.Ash Lilani (managing partner at Saama Capital), one of Zenis' earliest and most significant investors, stated that he knew the size of the total addressable market, which was estimated to be $200 billion, and that financial services are a huge pain point for startups.It is difficult to know your financial position in real-time. Usually, that information is available at the month's end, Lilani stated. We have the potential to create a large company, I believe. Zeni is targeting startups right now, but the medium and small markets can also be leveraged. Zeni will be their controller as they grow. Companies can hire a CFO to make strategic decisions.
