Jeeves: A Borderless Business Bank
Building a global business bank that works across countries and currencies
Significant startup activity is no longer confined to Silicon Valley and New York City. Whereas in 2013, only four major startup ecosystems were responsible for producing billion-dollar exits, by 2019, that number had jumped to more than 80 ecosystems across the globe. Yet, while companies are becoming increasingly international, banking solutions remain local and country-specific. As a result, there is an increasing demand for better worldwide banking and payment access.
Alumni Ventures portfolio company Jeeves is supporting the growing startup economy with a global business bank that offers payments, lending, and treasury functions that work across countries and currencies. Its all-in-one, cross-currency expense management platform provides startups and SMBs with an innovative banking infrastructure, credit cards, and payment products to help power their growth.
Supporting Multi-Country Finance
Multinational companies require seamless integration and orchestration between payment methods within and across countries. Jeeves addresses this need through a suite of products that capture client engagement and generate diversified revenue streams with higher contribution margins. The company’s four core revenue streams include:
- Corporate Credit Cards: A global corporate card that is accepted everywhere and gives its customers the flexibility of repayment in the currency of their choice.
- Local Bank Transfers: A credit line that is advanced to customers and can be used for local bank transfers.
- Working Capital Loans: A credit product with 30-60-90 day loans to customers in LATAM that works seamlessly with the cards and platform.
- Jeeves Growth: 12-month loans in local currency funded in <24 hours.
For example, powered by Jeeves’ proprietary infrastructure, a growing business can use a Jeeves card in Barcelona and pay it back in euros while also using the same card in Mexico and paying it back in pesos. This reduces any foreign exchange fees and provides instant spend reconciliation across currencies.
What We Liked About Jeeves
Competitive Moats and Sticky Solution: As of the end of 2021, customer retention on the Jeeves platform tracked to 90% in the first seven months following launch, while cohort spending grew 260% on average within three months. Jeeves’ closest competitors are Brex and Ramp —corporate card companies focused on different pain points. Neither has been able to address global transaction challenges as effectively as Jeeves.
Explosive Early Traction: Since raising its Series B in September 2021, Jeeves has seen revenue climb by 900% and doubled its client base to more than 3,000 companies across four regions — LATAM, U.S./Canada, UK/Europe, and Brazil. Additionally, Jeeve’s has reached about $1.3 billion in annualized gross transaction volume with the expectation of reaching $4 billion by year’s end.
Strong Syndicate: Jeeves is backed by well-established VC firms, including a16z, CRV, SVB, and Alkeon Capital Management. Lead investor Tencent has made 52 fintech investments since 2018, including Nubank (IPO), N26, Qonto, Uala, Viva Wallet, Scalable Capital, and Lydia Solutions. As of January 2020, more than 70 of Tencent’s 800 portfolio companies have gone public, and 160+ of them surpassed $100 million in valuation.
900%
Revenue Climb
3,000
Customers
$1.3B
Annualized Gross Transaction Volume
How We Are Involved
Spike Ventures (for the Stanford community), Triphammer Ventures (for the Cornell community), and Westwood Ventures (for the UCLA community) deployed capital in Jeeves’ $180 million Series C, raised at a $2.1 billion valuation. Jeeves closed the round just seven months after its $57 million Series B and less than two years after participating in Y Combinator’s 2020 summer cohort. The company was also part of AV’s Global Fund (previously known as Emerging Markets).
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