In B2B enterprise software, time kills all deals. This is especially true in the deal closing process, where there is a shocking amount of offline back and forth between vendor, buyer, and financing teams that takes weeks and causes deals to push to the next quarter or die all together. As a former CEO, I have felt this pain directly, and it has only gotten worse. And we aren’t talking about a small amount of money: globally there is $10 trillion in B2B spend every year.
Two entrepreneurs – Kush Kella and Ahmed Sharif – lived these problems helping run operations and finance at Fleet Tracking Platform Motive (previously KeepTruckin), where they were involved in setting up a deal desk & sales closing function and establishing financing options for Motive’s customers. This experience led Kush & Ahmed to an insight that the B2B sales closing process is a mostly offline, high touch, disjointed experience between the vendor and buyer, especially as it relates to financing options.
Kush & Ahmed started Vartana to build a digital, modern experience for the B2B Enterprise Sales Closing & Financing process, a need that has become even more critical in the current economic environment. Their checkout platform has integrated proposals, signatures, payments and self service financing. Today, 30% of B2B technology purchases require payment flexibility, but financing is a poor experience that is usually an afterthought as part of a deal, creating undue friction in the sales process and delaying signatures. With Vartana, financing is integrated, digital, and on demand, resulting in a much better experience for both vendor and buyer. This in turn improves conversion, sales cycles, order values, and helps both vendor and buyer manage cashflow.
Importantly, Vartana follows an asset-light financing model, providing a fully digital, low friction customer experience that acts as a digital enabler of sorts for banks that seek these high quality loans. The end result is a win-win-win. The vendor’s sellers get deals closed faster. The vendor’s finance team gets paid up front. The buyer gets to pay monthly. The banks get streamlined access to investment grade loans. The proof is in the results. In the last 12 months, Vartana achieved more than 600% growth in YoY financing processing volume with customers like Samsara, Verkada, and Barracuda.
Vartana’s mission is to become a new platform that can manage B2B Sales Closing & Financing, with the opportunity to enable transactions for the multi-trillion in IT and B2B spend. I’m thrilled that Mayfield has led Vartana’s Series A, and I’ve joined the board to support Kush, Ahmed & teams’ mission to create friction-free B2B commerce. Onwards & upwards.