Affiniti just raised $17M to revive backbone American SMBs. Here’s how we’re using Financial Intelligence to do it.
We’re thrilled to announce our $17M Series A, led by SignalFire — a partner who shares our conviction that the industries most in need of technology are the ones worth building for. Joining SignalFire in this round are follow-on investors including Codie Sanchez’s Contrarian Thinking Capital, Yahya Mokhtarzada (founder of Truebill, now Rocket Money), Austin Rief (founder of Morning Brew), Sequel, Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea FC), and others. We’re also proud to have continued support from our existing investors, including Indicator Ventures, Lightshed Ventures, and RiverPark Ventures, who doubled down on their belief in our mission.
Empowering the Backbone of America: Financial Intelligence for SMBs
NSF fees. Overdraft charges. Minimum balance penalties. As we pored over a pharmacy customer’s statements, the list of fees kept growing.
“Though you have millions in revenue, margins are tight. So, why are these avoidable fees still showing up?” we asked.
“Those fees are routine,” the owner replied, “My cash flow is unpredictable — I never really know when I’ll get reimbursed for the medications I dispense by PBMs and insurance companies.”
That was the moment our thesis became clear.
One-Size-Fits-None. Financial Systems Only Work With Context.
Over the past decade, startups, mid-market firms, and enterprises have dramatically improved their financial operations. Platforms like Brex and Ramp helped them automate everything from expense management to bill pay — often at no cost. And they had the advantage of in-house finance teams to tailor these systems to their specific business models.
Unfortunately, SMBs — the backbone of the U.S. economy — have been left behind. They account for 99% of all businesses and employ over 60 million Americans, yet still rely on outdated systems and guesswork to manage finances.
Why? Because point solutions — a better card here, a loan there — don’t solve the real problem. SMBs don’t have finance teams. They need systems that understand them.
Software That Thinks Like Your CFO
Imagine you’re a pharmacy owner. You log into Affiniti and see:
- Forecasted P&L and balance sheets tailored to your operations
- Cash flow projections based on your intended & projected actions
- Tax credits and savings based on your industry
- An aging report of your insurance receivables
- Projected payment timelines by PBM
- Analysis on public policy that may affect your revenues
And from the same dashboard, you can manage:
- AP / AR
- Your team’s spend
- Vendor charges and subscriptions
- All your bank accounts
That’s not a point solution — it’s financial intelligence, vertically integrated (read Parker Conrad’s death of point solutions idea here).
From Point Solutions to Real Solutions
For years, startups offered SMBs payday-style lending and cash back cards. It helped in the short term — but kept them dependent. Affiniti’s mission is different: we don’t just want to fix pain points. We want to help SMBs avoid them altogether.
You don’t fix cash flow with just another card. You fix it by empowering SMBs with a card product that helps them understand why the cash flow broke in the first place.
This is the playbook mid-market / enterprise companies have had their finance teams use for decades. Now we’re bringing it to the people who need it the most.
We’re currently laser focused on solving the cash flow epidemic for community pharmacies, independent auto dealers, and HVACR. If you want to help revive backbone America together . . . we’re hiring.
And a special thank you to TechCrunch and Axios for announcing this story.
