Slash hits $1.4bn valuation

Slash Financial has raised $100 million in Series C funding at a $1.4 billion valuation. (slash.com) The round was led by Ribbit Capital and co-led by Khosla Ventures and Goodwater Capital, with New Enterprise Associates and Y Combinator also participating. Slash said the April 16 raise brings its total funding to more than $160 million. (slash.com) The company said it serves more than 5,000 businesses and now powers more than $30 billion in annualized payment volume. Chief executive Victor Cardenas said Slash went from $10 million to $250 million in annualized revenue in 24 months, while TechCrunch reported the company now says it is at $300 million in annualized revenue and profitable. (slash.com) (techcrunch.com) Slash sells business checking, corporate cards, treasury tools and payments software, including stablecoin transfers. In plain terms, it is trying to become the finance dashboard that handles how internet-first companies store cash, pay vendors and move money across borders. (techcrunch.com) (ycombinator.com) The company started in 2020 or 2021, depending on the source, when co-founders Victor Cardenas and Kevin Bai were 19-year-old college dropouts building software for sneaker resellers. Bloomberg and TechCrunch reported that both founders are now 24. (ycombinator.com) (bloomberg.com) (techcrunch.com) That first market was fragile. TechCrunch reported Slash had been focused on sneaker sellers tied to Yeezy, and after Kanye West’s antisemitic remarks damaged that business, the startup pivoted into other industry niches before broadening further. (techcrunch.com) The valuation jump is steep. Slash’s Series B, announced about 11 months ago, raised $41 million at a $370 million valuation; the new round values the company at nearly four times that level roughly 16 months later. (slash.com 1) (slash.com 2) Investors are framing the bet around vertical banking, which means starting with one industry’s specific money problems before expanding into others. Khosla partner Jai Sajnani said Slash’s model is to “go deep in one industry, earn the right to expand, repeat.” (slash.com) Slash is also pushing stablecoin payments as part of that pitch. The company said it exceeded $1 billion in annualized stablecoin payment volume within nine months of launching the product, a sign that crypto-linked payment rails are becoming one more feature inside mainstream business-finance software. (slash.com) The company is still small next to the firms it wants to challenge. Bloomberg said Slash is aiming at Ramp and Brex, while TechCrunch noted Ramp was valued at $32 billion. (bloomberg.com) (techcrunch.com) For now, the new funding gives Slash more time to prove that a company that began with sneaker resellers can grow into a broader business-banking platform. Its backers are betting that specialized finance software can still scale into a much larger market. (slash.com) (bloomberg.com)