Rainforest, which helps software companies add built-in payment services, has closed a $20 million Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners, a California venture firm with offices in Boston.
Other investors include New York’s BoxGroup and The Fintech Fund; Washington, D.C.-based Ardent Venture Partners; Atlanta’s Tech Square Ventures; and California’s Accel and Infinity Ventures. All are prior investors who participated in Rainforest’s seed round in 2023.
‘White Glove’ Service
So far, the two-year-old startup has raised $31.8 million from investors. Subsequent to the Series A, Matrix’s San Francisco-based partner Matt Brown joined Rainforest’s board. Rainforest will use the new funding to advance its core technology and product offerings, expand its platform success team, and accelerate growth.
“By providing embedded payments via white glove service that’s risk-adjusted and customized for software platforms, we’re empowering more companies to focus on what they do best: building software that improves economies and experiences for everyone,” said Rainforest founder and CEO Joshua Silver, whose previous payments startup Patientco was acquired by Waystar.
“Payments are still surprisingly siloed, inaccessible, and user-unfriendly. However, trillions in payment volume are shifting from old-school solutions to modern software platforms with embedded financial services,” said Brown, whose venture firm has backed successful tech firms such as Afterpay, Canva and Quora.
Filling Critical Gap
Silver, a Georgia Tech alum, said he started Rainforest after being “utterly disappointed with the embedded payments solutions that were available to software platforms.” None offered the right combination of great technology, top-notch service, and fair commercials, he contended in a LinkedIn post.
Rainforest targets relatively smaller software firms — those that process between $50 million and $2 billion annually — that are no longer served by fintech firms, such as Stripe. Silver says he has assembled an “all-star” executive team, with many having worked with him in previous startups. They include Becky Kopplin, who oversees payments; engineering chief Chris Church, and finance head Cailey Ryckman.
Commercial Real Estate
MacKenzie Companies
Advertising / Media / Communications / Public Relations
Nevins & Associates
Financial Services / Investment Firms
Chesapeake Corporate Advisors
Commercial Real Estate
Monday Properties
Venture Capital
Blue Delta Capital Partners
Internet / Technology
Foxtrot Media
“Rainforest is a dramatically better experience for buyers, sellers, and the platforms that connect them…I’ve seen dozens of approaches to payments, but none come close to Rainforest,” said Silver. Rainforest’s features include data and fraud protection, and data portability.
Since last year’s seed round, Rainforest says its payment volume has risen 17 times, enabling software companies to increase revenue and engagement, and reduce churn. Its clients span trucking and logistics, healthcare, specialty retail, professional services, field services, and donation management.
At Venture Atlanta’s pitch competition last year, Rainforest won the Emerging Startup of the Year award.
