Domestic business-to-business payment volumes are estimated at ~$25 trillion annually, and yet paper checks still account for 40 percent of payments. Business payments often require an approval process as business owners want visibility and control over outflows.

One way to accomplish this is by cutting paper checks. Paper checks and the resulting fragmentation of data make it difficult for both payers and payees to track the movement of money, reconcile payments in their accounting system records and generally manage their businesses. As a result, businesses spend hours on manual data entry in order to gain insight into and maintain control of their payables.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way! Accounts payables (AP) automation platforms help businesses better capture data in invoices and streamline the workflows around approvals, payments and reconciliation. Though solutions exist today, many do a poor job extracting, structuring and coding all relevant data from an invoice. They also often fall short due to limited flexibility, weak integrations with accounting systems and cumbersome user experiences.

Enter MakersHub. MakersHub provides a full-suite AP solution that pulls data from bills, routes to the appropriate approvers, syncs with the accounting system and reconciles payment records and bank statements. The platform’s unique value proposition is its ability to capture detailed invoice data by line-item through its proprietary “WiseVision” technology which enables users to eliminate tedious data entry.

From a workflow perspective, the platform facilitates a singular, complete data thread that gives owners the visibility and control they need – that they previously tried to wield by being the one to cut a check.

MakersHub was founded by Phong Ngo and Charley Howe who are the perfect duo to tackle AP automation. Ngo has deep product and domain expertise – he experienced the pain point MakersHub is looking to solve firsthand and wasn’t able to identify a platform that could do what he needed while running General Plasma, a supplier of nanotechnology equipment.

Bills and receipts were not entered or coded correctly and data would be missing and this led to slow and incomplete cash flow projections and job costing, which made it more difficult to manage the business. Howe worked as an exec for nearly two decades at Citi and brings a strong financial services background essential for a platform with payments at its core.

Together, they’ve built something really special. Their solution resonates with businesses of all types but is a lifesaver for those in industries characterized by high bill volume and/or complex payables such as construction, logistics, manufacturing and restaurants. While your average person might wear an Apple Watch, marathoners opt for Garmin. MakersHub is the Garmin watch equivalent for AP automation. Companies with low volume and low complexity AP operations may get by with Bill.com and other AP solutions, but MakersHub is the right fit for businesses that demand a more sophisticated platform.

The prize is big: Bill.com boasts a market cap north of $9 billion and over 200,000 active customers, but is still barely scratching the surface on the opportunity at hand given the millions of businesses in need of a solution for AP automation.

We are thrilled to announce that QED is co-leading MakersHub’s $7 million seed extension alongside TTV Capital - bringing total capital raised to $11.5 million. We couldn’t be more excited to join the MakersHub team as they strive to make AP “unbelievably enjoyable.” If you are interested in learning more, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Laura Bock, Partner. Email Laura here or connect on LinkedIn

Shruti Batra, Principal. Email Shruti here or connect on LinkedIn

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