Airbase Raises $91M in Funding and Expands Spend Management Platform Before $325M Paylocity Acquisition 

Airbase, a spend management platform that helps companies automate corporate cards, expense reimbursements, and accounts payable workflows, has raised a total of roughly $91 million in venture funding across multiple rounds as it built one of the leading modern finance automation systems for mid-market and enterprise customers.

The company was founded in 2017 and is designed to unify fragmented corporate spending tools into a single platform that gives finance teams real-time control and visibility over non-payroll expenditures. Its software combines approval workflows, corporate cards, bill payments, and expense management into one system, allowing businesses to streamline financial operations and reduce manual accounting work. Over time, Airbase has positioned itself as a key competitor in the broader spend management category alongside other fintech infrastructure providers.

The company’s earliest institutional backing came in a $7 million Series A round led by First Round Capital, with participation from Village Global, BoxGroup, and Quiet Capital. This early capital supported the development of its unified spend management product and helped the company expand its initial customer base among high-growth startups and mid-market firms.

Airbase later raised a $23.5 million Series A extension led by Bain Capital Ventures, further accelerating product development and market expansion. Bain Capital Ventures and existing investors deepened their involvement as the company refined its platform into a more comprehensive financial operations system for non-payroll spend control.

The company’s largest equity round came in June 2021, when it closed a $60 million Series B led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Bain Capital Ventures, First Round Capital, BoxGroup, Village Global, Quiet Capital, and Webb Investment Network. The round valued Airbase at approximately $600 million post-money and marked a major scaling point for the company as it expanded its enterprise customer base and product capabilities.

Beyond equity financing, Airbase also secured a $150 million credit facility from Goldman Sachs in 2022 to support its corporate card and payments infrastructure, reflecting growing transaction volume on the platform. This credit facility allowed the company to scale its financial services capabilities and handle increasing payment throughput across its customer base.

Across its lifecycle, Airbase has attracted backing from prominent venture firms including First Round Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Menlo Ventures, BoxGroup, and Webb Investment Network. The company also brought in strategic participation from executives and investors across fintech and enterprise software, reflecting strong investor interest in spend management infrastructure as a core layer of modern finance operations.

Airbase’s growth has been driven by rising demand for automation in finance departments, particularly among companies seeking to replace disconnected systems for expenses, procurement, and payments. By centralizing these workflows, the platform provides CFOs with real-time visibility into company spending and reduces the complexity of month-end reconciliation and financial reporting.

In 2024, Airbase was acquired by Paylocity in a $325 million deal, marking an exit for its venture investors and integrating its spend management capabilities into a broader HR and payroll software ecosystem. The acquisition reflected both the maturity of the category and the strategic value of unified financial operations platforms within enterprise software suites.

Today, Airbase is recognized as one of the more influential players in the modern spend management category, having helped define how mid-market companies approach financial workflow automation and integrated payment infrastructure.

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