Vero Technologies, which develops software to power so-called floorplan and inventory lending, has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding led by California’s BankTech Ventures.
Other investors include Europe’s Sopra Steria Ventures, Arcadia Funds (Burlington, Mass.), Antler (Boulder, Colo.), AAF Management (Washington, D.C., and Abu Dhabi), and the Independent Community Bankers of America (Washington, D.C.).
“We’ve been fortunate to build a viable product and achieve initial market penetration with minimal funding to date,” said co-founder and CEO John Mizzi, who early in his career worked at Merrill Lynch. “Now, as we set out to expand, we’re pleased to do so in partnership with BankTech Ventures, Sopra Steria Ventures and other strategic investors who share our vision of providing banks with a bespoke solution for wholesale finance,” he added.
Prior to starting Vero, Mizzi was chief operating officer at Bond.One, where he built digital infrastructure to enable fixed income securities. He and chief operating officer Isaac Zafarani, who led product development at auto supplier Lear Corp., co-founded Vero after finding loan management solutions to be outdated, offering few functionalities needed to run businesses today.
Building Afresh
To this end, Vero started rewriting back-end loan management software and the entire operating system for servicing “floorplan” loans — a term used to denote a form of retailer financing for large-ticket items displayed on showroom floors. Its core today is VeroOS, an operating system termed “institutional-grade” by Antler’s Ryan Sommerville.
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Sommerville also defined the problem Vero solves. On one side, dealers of manufactured goods struggle to secure financing for their inventory, while dealers’ preferred financial services providers, such as community and regional banks, lack the know-how to build inventory financing solutions. VeroOS connects dealers, suppliers and lenders on a single platform to manage funding requests, collections, risk and portfolio management.
Pushing LaaS Platform
Vero said it will use the freshly raised capital to accelerate the growth of its lending-as-a-service (LaaS) offering, giving banks a digital solution for the financial processes. The LaaS platform streamlines processes without overhauling existing systems or adding specialized headcount, Vero said.
Vero has initially targeted auto retailers and also eyes powersports and agricultural equipment dealers who have similar needs.
