In less than a year, Boulder payments startup Tilled has gone from just over 10 to 50 employees, brought on a number of enterprise-level clients to its platform and raised more than $20 million in venture funding to achieve its mission.
Continuing that momentum, the company announced today the close of an $11 million Series A extension, led by G Squared, with participation from existing investors Peterson Ventures and Abstract Ventures.
The startup, which was founded in 2019 by Caleb Avery, helps software companies make money off of the payments they process. Tilled’s solution allows its clients to operate like their own fully registered payment facilitator, giving them the ability to monetize their payments and keep 66% of that revenue share.
When working with services like Stripe, companies are typically charged a standard fee of 2.9% and 30 cents per successful card charge. Instead of charging for the processing fees, Tilled shares the profits with its customers.
As they’ve got a foothold in the market, Tilled’s business has sprouted up and the company has hired rapidly to meet that demand.
“Since that last Series A announcement we’ve seen a tremendous amount of inbound interest on the platform,” Avery said.
Following the initial $11 million Series A raise in May 2021, Tilled’s team has more than quadrupled to over 50. And with the new funding, the company plans to more than triple the size of the current team by the end of 2022.
The company’s staff is largely focused on technology, with nearly 40% still engineers, but Tilled is hiring across departments this round. It expects to hire in sales, marketing, engineering, implementation and customer support, both out of its Boulder headquarters and nationwide.
While Tilled has a 26,000 square-foot office space near Boulder that serves as its headquarters, Avery said the company is looking to hire the best employees regardless of location.
The company is also using this new capital to fuel product improvements, building on the recent launch of omnichannel payments that it thinks offer a step up versus its competition.
The new omnichannel payments offering allows for card-present processing at locations like the dentist, veterinarian or golf course, and opens up new opportunities for the company’s enterprise-level customers.
Avery has previously touted Tilled’s easy onboarding and low cost as primary differentiators, but is now excited to roll out new technology.
“Price has always been a big differentiator against Stripe, but I hate to sell on price. That’s not why we’re doing what we’re doing,” he said, pointing to the omnichannel offering as a new selling point.
This round was driven almost entirely by outside investor interest, Avery said, and brings a high-profile name onto the company’s cap table. Lead investor G Squared has backed companies like Airbnb, Lyft, Postmates and Toast in the past.
“Tilled’s innovative, turn-key solution is designed to allow its partners to own more of the value chain, deliver margin improvement, and create a new revenue stream," said Larry Aschebrook, founder and managing partner of G Squared, in a statement. “The platform’s economic benefit is enhanced by its outstanding customer experience and full omnichannel product suite, a combination that has driven exceptional interest from leading ISVs. We are delighted to support Tilled in this Series A extension as the company accelerates its growth.”
When asked if he envisioned Tilled growing at the rapid pace it has in just a few years following its founding, Avery laughed and shook his head no.
“At every point in the journey I have to pinch myself,” he said. “This is a dream come true.”
