In 2022, spotting a unicorn is no longer that rare or impressive. Nearly 1,000 private companies fit the billion-dollar valuation description,…
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In 2022, spotting a unicorn is no longer that rare or impressive. Nearly 1,000 private companies fit the billion-dollar valuation description, according to CB Insights. So what is still rare and impressive? Achieving so-called octocorn status.
Corporate credit card and expenses start-up Ramp has done just that, only six months since earning unicorn status no less. On Monday, the company formally announced a $750 million capital raise at an eye-watering valuation just north of $8 billion.
Charge it to the Corporate Card
Ramp first emerged out of stealth funding in February 2020, with an initial business pitch of offering 1.5% cashback on all corporate credit card purchases as well as pricing intelligence technology that could help reign in big-ticket spending, particularly on redundant software-as-a-service subscriptions. It’s since expanded its footprint, with a focus on streamlining business travel and expense management.
Ramp has raised a total of $1.37 billion to date, including a $115 million round at a nearly $4 billion valuation last August, and claims it saw a tenfold increase in annual revenue last year. Its rapid growth has investors double-dipping:
- So far, over 5,000 businesses have used Ramp to process over $5 billion in annualized payments. Its customer base has jumped seven-fold in the past year and it adds 10,000 new cardholders a month, co-founder Eric Glyman told TechCrunch.
- San Francisco-based VC firm Founders Fund has led all four major fundraising rounds, a rarity; meanwhile, Goldman Sachs and Citibank joined returning backers such as Stripe and Redpoint Ventures for the latest fundraising round of $200 million in equity and $550 million in debt.
Hot Competition: Corporate-focused fintech firms are booming in general. Airbase announced a new investment from and strategic partnership with American Express last month, while competitor Brex raised a $300 million Series D at a $12 billion valuation in January. That’s a dodecacorn for anyone keeping count.
