Sequence managed to secure a striking $20 million in Series A funding, and it’s not just the amount that grabs attention. This young B2B fintech company, founded in 2022, perfectly exemplifies the growing demand for smarter, automated revenue systems in the business world. Backed by notable names such as 645 Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, Sequence’s AI-driven revenue platform is now being positioned to not only solve billing and contract-related frustrations but to also redefine how CFOs and finance teams approach their most intricate workflows.
Let’s dive into what makes Sequence stand out, why B2B fintech keeps booming, and the lessons entrepreneurs can take away from its journey.
The Funding and Key Players
Sequence has its roots in both London and New York, and its founding team consists of experienced players: Riya Grover (CEO), who previously founded Feedr, Eamon Jubbawy of Onfido fame, and Enda Cahill, an early team member at Choco. Their combined expertise clearly inspired trust among investors, leading to a funding round led by 645 Ventures with contributions from top-tier firms like Firstminute Capital and Passion Capital.
To date, Sequence has raised $39 million, which is impressive for a company just three years old. Among their strategic investors are CFOs from respected tech unicorns like Klaviyo and Wise, individuals who clearly understand the pain of managing manual financial processes at scale.
The Product: What Exactly Does It Solve?
Sequence targets CFOs and finance teams struggling with cumbersome billing, custom contract handling, and manual revenue recognition. Traditional tools often fall short when a company deals with any contract complexity, like variable pricing tiers or usage-based agreements.
Sequence tackles this by automating tasks throughout the billing lifecycle, which includes:
- Creating billing schedules directly from signed contracts.
- Flagging anomalies in invoices before delivery.
- Handling advanced pricing models (e.g., seat overages, usage limits, milestones, and temporary discounts).
One standout feature is how quickly the system deploys for new users. Unlike traditional enterprise tools like Stripe Billing or Chargebee, which often require significant development resources to configure, Sequence is light on engineering effort while still flexible enough for highly-customized deals.
Currently, they support over 100 companies, including big names like MoonPay (a crypto payment firm) and e-commerce platforms like Runway. On an annual basis, their platform automates $1 billion in invoice volume across clients. That scale not only proves demand but also highlights the efficiency of Sequence's offer.
Lessons for Entrepreneurs Entering B2B Fintech
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Find a niche pain point
Many finance leaders find contract negotiations, approval workflows, and manual invoicing a nightmare with existing software. Sequence identified a clear market gap by targeting CFO operations neglected by legacy tools.
Takeaway: Solving a specific frustration, especially one shared by decision-makers, is far more impactful than building something that tries to cater to everyone. -
Build on existing expertise
Most of the founding team already came equipped with deep knowledge of sectors like identity verification and food tech. This gave them a strong understanding of operational bottlenecks, but also the networks needed to gain buy-in early.
Takeaway: If you’re starting a venture, leverage what you’ve already learned. Existing know-how can speed up product-market fit and give you a head start over competitors. -
Go beyond automation to rethink processes
Sure, any automation tool can speed up tasks. But Sequence goes deeper: rather than simply automating spreadsheet-based workflows, it uses intelligent algorithms to detect problems early, adapt to deal-specific needs, and streamline the entire contract-to-cash lifecycle. Customers reported much shorter billing cycles, from days to just hours.
Takeaway: Utility matters as much as speed. Design systems that anticipate issues before they become costly. -
Understand the finance mentality
As Sequence started bringing in power users like CFOs from Decagon and Wise, they also locked in street credibility. Finance professionals value trust and reliability over flashy branding. By demonstrating concrete, measurable impact, a fintech startup can attract more stakeholders.
Takeaway: Whether you’re pitching VCs or customers, show how much time, money, or error your system eliminates.
Why B2B Fintech Is Not Slowing Down
While the consumer fintech explosion may have reached maturity, the B2B sector is continuing to climb. In 2025 alone, an estimated €1.3 billion went into platforms offering tools for CFOs and finance teams.
A few underlying trends explain this:
- Scaling companies require sophisticated tools. As businesses grow in size or complexity, their contracts and pricing models often break standard automated solutions.
- Revenue recognition pressures are rising. With tighter regulations across markets, figures reported in financial statements must be accurate to avoid audits or penalties. Automated systems make compliance easier.
- AI can now tackle operational complexity. Advances in AI make it possible to run error-checking or anomaly-spotting tasks at scale better than humans.
Sequence isn’t the only notable player riding this wave. Other examples include London-based Xelix, which raised €137 million to tackle invoice automation, and Vertice, which raised $50 million to handle SaaS spend management.
For entrepreneurs eyeing this space, remember that the fintech market still has many pain points yet to be solved, especially within very specific corporate workflows.
How to Break Into B2B Fintech as a Newcomer
Want to build your version of Sequence? Here’s how to get started:
- Listen to CFOs. Start by interviewing finance heads in companies of varying sizes, from scale-ups to mid-market enterprises.
- Spot inefficiencies. Look out for outdated methods, manual data entry, endless Excel revisions, or constant back-and-forth between different departments.
- Avoid overpromising. Finance teams value reliability over shiny features. If a system fails once, it loses trust.
- Make sure your product scales. If your solutions can’t grow alongside a business, you’ll face churn as clients advance to bigger tools.
- Choose the right investors. Sequence benefited from investors who were knowledgeable about fintech’s regulatory and engineering challenges, this likely helped them with strategic guidance.
Wrapping It All Up
Sequence is more than just another fintech story. It shows what happens when a startup combines domain expertise with a hyper-focused solution during a moment of macroeconomic tailwinds. With automation, data accuracy, and user-centric design, it’s carving its space in the finance world.
For startup founders, it’s a textbook case of finding opportunity in the nitty-gritty operational frustrations every business has but rarely discusses.
To my fellow entrepreneurs, keep asking yourself this key question: where in the process are businesses still relying on manual work or disconnected tools? Your answer might just be your next big venture.
FAQ
1. What is Sequence?
Sequence is a B2B fintech startup that provides an AI-driven revenue platform to automate billing, contracts, and revenue recognition for CFOs and finance teams. Learn more about Sequence
2. How much funding has Sequence raised so far?
Sequence raised $20 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding to $39 million. Check out Sequence’s funding journey
3. Who are the founders of Sequence?
Sequence was founded by Riya Grover, Eamon Jubbawy, and Enda Cahill, experienced entrepreneurs with backgrounds in tech and finance. Learn about Sequence’s founders
4. Which investors participated in the recent funding round?
645 Ventures led the round, with contributions from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Firstminute Capital, Passion Capital, Dig Ventures, Vor Capital, and strategic angels such as CFOs from Decagon, Klaviyo, and Wise. Explore Sequence’s investors
5. How does Sequence’s platform help CFOs and finance teams?
Sequence automates tasks like billing schedules, invoice anomaly detection, and handles complex pricing structures, reducing manual work and increasing accuracy. Discover how Sequence works
6. Who are Sequence’s key customers?
Sequence serves over 100 companies, including MoonPay, Runway, and Incident.io, automating $1 billion in invoice volume annually. Learn about Sequence’s customers
7. What makes Sequence different from competitors like Stripe Billing?
Sequence requires less engineering effort while offering flexibility for highly customized deals, unlike Stripe Billing, Chargebee, or Zuora. Find out what sets Sequence apart
8. Why is the B2B fintech sector booming?
The B2B fintech sector is growing due to increased demand for sophisticated revenue tools, tighter compliance regulations, and AI advancements addressing operational complexity. Learn about B2B fintech trends
9. What lessons can entrepreneurs learn from Sequence’s journey?
Entrepreneurs should aim to solve specific pain points, leverage their expertise, and design scalable solutions that anticipate customer issues. Explore entrepreneurial lessons
10. How should newcomers approach the B2B fintech space?
Newcomers should engage with CFOs, identify inefficiencies in finance workflows, build reliable scalable products, and choose industry-savvy investors. Check out B2B fintech strategies
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.