Corporate expense management platform Fenbeitong has secured USD 92.5 million in its Series C financing round, led by Hillhouse Capital’s early-stage investment arm Gaoling Venture Capital and Tencent, according to business media platform 36Kr.
Existing investor IDG Capital, Ribbit Capital, Eight Roads and Glade Brook Capital also participated in the round. The proceeds will be used for product upgrading and recruitment. So far, Fenbeitong has secured over RMB 1 billion (USD 153.8 million) in funding.
In 2015, Mr. Lanxi, founder of Fenbeitong, noted that employees were generally frustrated by traditional reimbursement experiences, including lack of transparency, low efficiency, fragmented/outdated data, cumbersome reservation processes and the financial pressure of using personal funds on business trips. He saw great business opportunities in solving these problems.
To address the difficulties faced by corporate expense control, Fenbeitong introduced a reimbursement service for business travel meals, and then gradually expanded it to cover all payments. Having created a model that integrates cost control and payments, Fenbeitong is seeking to take the lead in building a next-generation corporate expense management platform.
Fenbeitong has been growing rapidly since it completed its Series B financing round in 2018.
Despite the impacts of Covid-19, Fenbeitong grew its revenue by 300% year-on-year in 2020, at a similar rate as the previous two years. GMV (gross merchant value) reached RMB 2.5 billion last year.
Fenbeitong has completed its product portfolio by adding Virtual Card and Online Payment to its system, which helps expand its services from T&E, Benefits and Procurement to payment solutions including Petty Cash and Bill Payment. Fenbeitong now manages and enables payment of rent, procurement, marketing and other corporate expenditures.
In early 2021, Fenbeitong launched an online reimbursement function that covers every aspect of corporate expenditures by combining enterprise and employee payments.
The potential clients that Fenbeitong targets are new-economy enterprises in rapid growth as well as medium and large-sized enterprises that have urgent needs for digital upgrading. The company’s business model supports its sustainable development. Revenue source diversification is also driving Fenbeitong’s rapid growth. Fenbeitong not only monetizes on its SaaS service but also gets a significant part of its incomes from commissions for the transactions on its platform.
