Invoice2go has secured a whopping $35 million in funding from Accel Partners and Ribbit Capital. The interest from Accel Partners puts Invoice2go, an invoice app, alongside companies like Facebook, Dropbox and Spotify, which all received capital investments from the firm.
Invoice2go is used by more than 100,000 SMBs worldwide and facilitates more than $10 billion (USD) in invoices each year.
As part of the funding announcement, Greg Waldorf (of Accel Partners and eHarmony) will come on board as CEO and head up a new office that will be opening in Silicon Valley. Chris will stay in Sydney to build a product development team here.
Anthill caught up with Invoice2go founder, Chris Strode, and here’s what he had to say about the cash and the company’s new leadership structure.
How will Invoice2go use the cash?
“There are 100 million small businesses around the world, and they all need to manage their cash flow. Invoice2go helps them do that through mobile invoicing, expense tracking and other simple reporting tools. We’ll be using the cash to increase our marketing, and continue to develop our product, to capture this market opportunity globally.” Chris said.
Chris added that the company plans to use the cash to further innovate and capitalise on its existing success.
How is it that Invoice2go is disrupting other apps in the invoicing space and desktop accounting apps so effectively?
Chris, who wrote Invoice2go’s original code, said this has been in the cards, from day one.
“I designed it to be ‘anti-accounting software’. I was a small business owner myself at the time and I could see that all these full-fledged accounting systems were way too overcomplicated and expensive for small businesses,” he told us.
“The product I built strips out all the complexity, building exactly what you need – and nothing you don’t – so it’s mobile invoicing, expense tracking and other simple reporting tools, that let you stay in control of cash flow. The other reason we’ve outpaced the competition is that we were one of the first to market in creating a mobile app. It was obvious to me, the minute the iPhone first launched, that the future of invoicing was mobile. No one wants to come home at night and sit in front of a computer sending invoices!”
You will stay in Sydney to lead a product development team. Any indications about what innovations the world might have to look forward to?
“Right now we’re focusing on building the best product for small businesses to manage their cash flow. I can’t reveal exactly what’s in the pipeline – but everything that we develop will be created based on exactly what the small business owner needs – simple, easy to use tools that help them get paid faster, save time, and run a business that has a healthy cash flow position.”
Greg Waldorf will bring the business to new offices in Silicon Valley. What’s the function there? Will it be more of an administrative office or will there be a technology focus there?
“Yes, that’s exactly right – we’ll be working closely as a team to build the business and product offering up,” continued Chris.
“Greg has fantastic expertise in driving growth globally – so he will focus on that from Silicon Valley. The technology hub will remain in Sydney, and I will work closely with Greg to ensure we have the best product, anywhere in the world.”
What do you think is the biggest challenge in the monetary/financial/invoicing app space now?
“I think the biggest challenge is awareness,” he said.
“Small businesses are so busy running their business, they don’t always have time to stay abreast of the latest solutions. So, even though we have a successful app, that small businesses love and tell us they couldn’t run their business without – it’s all about getting the word out to the 100 million small businesses globally.”
What’s the biggest advancement you foresee over the next year?
“The biggest advancement I see is starting to change behaviour for small businesses globally.,” he told us.
“We’re all creatures of habit – but there’s going to be a huge shift as small businesses start to move away from the old school pen and paper, onto a tech platform to run their day to day. It’s already started happening – but we’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of bringing small businesses into the digital age with mobile invoicing.”
Chris Strode is a badass name. You ever tell jokes that start with “Chris Strode into a bar…?”
“You’re the first to say this – very funny! I haven’t used that joke before, but it’s a good one. It makes me think Chris Strode into a bar, on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday…”
