MuckerLab is a venture capital firm specializing in incubation, pre-seed, seed, startup, early-stage, and Series A investments. It targets investing in Internet software, services, and media ventures. It also prefers to invest in Enterprise, fintech, B2B and Consumer Products.  MuckerLab seeks to invest in Los Angeles and broader Southern California. It typically invests between $0.25 million and $1 million per deal. It runs an accelerator program.  The duration of the program can be as short as 3 months to as long as 24 months. It invests between $21,000 to $150,000 in exchange for a 7% to 12% equity stake.  Erik Rannala and William Hsu founded MuckerLab in October 2011. It has its headquarters in Santa Monica in California.

Mucker Capital

Matchstick Ventures supports the creation and growth of early-stage technology companies in rapidly growing yet underserved startup ecosystems. The firm prefers to invest in seed-stage, early-stage, and later-stage companies. The firm seeks to invest in the business products, business services, information technology, and TMT sectors.

Matchstick Ventures

Toba Capital is an investment firm committed to helping create incredible technology companies. We specialize in business applications, IT, and internet infrastructure markets.

Toba Capital

Cascade Seed Fund is a pre-seed and seed stage venture capital fund investing in software companies and consumer brands

Cascade Seed Fund

Tab Commerce

Tab Commerce specializes in financial technology solutions for the restaurant industry. Their Spend Control Platform is designed to help restaurants manage their expenses more effectively and optimize their profitability. Tab Commerce helps streamline processes, improve efficiency, and provide valuable insights into spending patterns. Their offerings aim to empower restaurant owners with tools that facilitate better financial decision-making and management.

Tab Commerce provides a corporate card solution specifically designed for the restaurant industry where it caters to a range of&nbsp; different functions from managing corporate expenses to making restaurant and manager level purchases. The company's platform enables restaurants to control spending, save time, and increase profit margins . The firm offers a range of physical and virtual cards and offers 1% cash back on all purchases, cost control software, and customizable spending limits. The Tab Commerce system allows for the creation of multiple user accerounts, including administrators with full access across all locations and employees with limited access to assigned cards. Unlike traditional corporate cards, Tab Commerce's solution offers enhanced controls such as spending limits and comprehensive software integration, aiming to reduce fraud risks and increase visibility over expenses. The company's platform is designed to handle a larger portion of a restaurant's total spending compared to conventional corporate cards, potentially maximizing control, visibility, and cash back earnings for its users.

Platforms, apps, and cards to keep the corporate wallet in check

Business Expense Management

Tab Commerce closes $1 million USD to help restaurants manage expenses

Tab Commerce provides a corporate card solution specifically designed for the restaurant industry where it caters to a range of&nbsp; different functions from managing corporate expenses to making restaurant and manager level purchases. The company's platform enables restaurants to control spending, save time, and increase profit margins . The firm offers a range of physical and virtual cards and offers 1% cash back on all purchases, cost control software, and customizable spending limits. The Tab Commerce system allows for the creation of multiple user accerounts, including administrators with full access across all locations and employees with limited access to assigned cards. Unlike traditional corporate cards, Tab Commerce's solution offers enhanced controls such as spending limits and comprehensive software integration, aiming to reduce fraud risks and increase visibility over expenses. The company's platform is designed to handle a larger portion of a restaurant's total spending compared to conventional corporate cards, potentially maximizing control, visibility, and cash back earnings for its users.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsTab Commerce serves restaurants of various types, with its platform being used to process over USD 100 million in purchases as of 2024. The company has developed its product alongside restaurant group partners, indicating a collaborative approach with businesses in the industry. The company has also partnered with the Texas Restaurant Association to offer the TRA Corporate Card.Key competitors: None comparable (Tab Commerce is the only startup in our coverage that solely&nbsp; focuses on the restaurant&nbsp; industry.)&nbsp;

<div>
 
 Expensify offers an app that provides a diverse range of expense and payment solutions and insights for individuals and enterprises. It offers business expense cards and reimbursement platforms with automated receipt scanning and approval workflows. Expensify also provides bill payment solutions with automated tracking, approval, and payment.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Its corporate cards also offer benefits to users in the form of discounts when using several B2B platforms such as Stripe, AWS, Quickbooks, and Stack Overflow. Expensify can also be integrated with several third-party HR, tax, accounting, and travel platforms software.
 
 
 
 
 The company follows a freemium pricing model. For business expense cards, users are charged a monthly fee per card. Non-card reimbursement and business payout management platforms are subscription-based.
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23003">
 In October 2023
 </a>
 , Expensify added a feature to its app that allows users to send and receive money, split expenses within individuals or groups, and use chat functionality, signaling the company's entry into personal finance.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 As of October 2021, the platform had over 10 million end users, across several enterprises including La Trobe University, Swatch Group, Pinterest, and Atlassian. Moreover, Expensify reportedly had around 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23613">
 719,000 paid members
 </a>
 as of November 2023.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26941">
 revenue amounted to USD 150.7 million
 </a>
 in 2023, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.2%.
 
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16593?industryIds=76">
 revenue amounted to USD 169.5 million
 </a>
 in 2022, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 25.1%.
 
 
 
 
 The company was listed on the Nasdaq in November 2021, where it raised around USD 70 million at a USD 2.2 billion valuation. 
 
</div>

Expensify

Coupa offers a procurement and accounts payable management software that lets enterprises automate the management and settlement of payables (from invoice matching to payments) and supply chain activities. It also offers a travel and expense (T&amp;E) management platform, with embedded fraud detection, for employees to access integrated travel management solutions including travel booking, price assurance, and other traveler services.The company also operates the “Coupa App Marketplace,” a platform for business users to connect with certified solutions for supply chain, procurement, and finance functions. In March 2024, the firm introduced a number of <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27258">AI-based features</a> to automate tasks, improve efficiency, and enable smarter decision-making for businesses. The firm also plans to launch Forecast Collaboration, a new solution to improve communication between buyers and suppliers by May 2024.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33007">August 2024</a>, Coupa introduced a further series of AI-driven features such as Coupa Navi, Contract Intelligence enhancements, and the Coupa Advantage Marketplace. to help companies optimize process efficiency and improve productivity.The company raised aggregate gross proceeds of USD 153 million through an IPO in October 2016 and was listed on the Nasdaq. However, in December 2022, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15272?industryIds=76">entered a definitive agreement </a>(completed in February 2023) to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for USD 8 billion and be delisted from the Nasdaq. Key customers and partnershipsThe company offers its solutions to several industries, ranging from automotive and banking services, to oil and gas, and telecommunications. Its clients include several large global enterprises, including Sanofi, MGM Resorts, Salesforce, Juniper Networks, and Cooper Standard.Coupa delivers its payout solutions in partnership with several companies. Its virtual card partners include AirPlus, HSBC, Citi, and J.P. Morgan, while its payment tech providers include Stripe, Mastercard, PayPal, and TransferMate. In October 2022, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14052">Coupa partnered </a>with integration and automation solution provider, TradeCentric, to optimize the former’s procurement solutions. The company subsequently <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17669">partnered with </a><a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/59">Goldman Sachs </a>in April 2023, to leverage the latter’s payment, treasury, and banking infrastructure solution, “Transaction Banking (TxB).”In January 2024, the <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25856">company partnered with Tonkean, </a>a no-code platform to develop business applications to launch “Tonkean Intake Orchestration for Coupa”, in Coupa App Marketplace, to improve intake-to-procure processes for customers.Moreover, Coupa launched an investment fund of USD 50 million in June 2021 to invest in early- and growth-stage startups in the business spend and procurement management industry. The funds first two portfolio companies were SaaS expense management platform, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/408080">Zylo </a>, and procurement management platform, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/152710">SourceDay </a>.

Coupa

Brex offers short-term financing (including earned revenue access) and expense management solutions. The platform primarily offers cards for businesses, including business expense card and corporate cards for larger businesses. Brex issues corporate cards based on several factors such as funding raised, revenue, and cash balances, instead of relying solely on credit scores for approvals.&nbsp;&nbsp;Brex also offers an automated bill payment solution for enterprises to manage payouts. This lets users choose several payment methods (ACH, wire transfers, checks, or cards) and also integrates with accounting systems such as Quickbooks and Xero. The company subsequently launched “Brex payables” in August 2023, an AI-enabled AP solution (from receiving invoices to approving payment) that combined bill payment and purchase card capabilities..In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33808">September 2024</a>, Brex launched Brex Embedded for global payments integration.&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;Brex users span several groups, such as tech startups, venture capitalists, and ecommerce companies. Brex primarily targets SMBs, and, as of October 2021, it reportedly generated around 60% of its revenue from mid-market companies. However, the company shifted its focus away from small businesses in June 2022, to focus on startups (pre-seed and venture funded companies) and mid-to-large-sized companies. Brex laid off around 11% of its workforce in October 2022, to increase focus on the company’s new strategy, and achieve sustainable profitability for years to come. It subsequently laid off a further 20% of its employees in January 2024 to make the company more agile and accelerate its path to profitability.Navan had around 8,800 enterprise customers as of April 2022, at which point Liquid was used by over 600 companies, including Zoom, Lyft, Pinterest, and Patreon.&nbsp;In October 2024, Brex partnered with Navan to create BrexPay for Navan, an integrated business travel and payments solution. Previously,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20254">Brex partnered</a> with&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/359227">Airwallex</a> in July 2023, to leverage AIrwallex’s network of 50+ global licenses, to support local currency collections for global corporate cards and employee expense reimbursements across the globe.In December 2023, Brex along with&nbsp; <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/780841">Ramp</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25146">collaborated with Uber’s enterprise arm</a> to improve expense processing efficiency by automating the receipt handling for Uber transactions while ensuring&nbsp; compliance with company policies.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Brex

Navan (formerly known as TripActions) offers a business and personal travel platform and pivoted to the expense management business by launching “TripActions Liquid” (Liquid) in early 2020. The company continues to offer a range of expense management solutions beyond just travel expense claims, including business expense cards and an employee reimbursement platform.&nbsp;&nbsp;The expense cards include physical and virtual cards with spend controls, policies and compliance, reconciliation, and custom dashboards for insights. Moreover, the cards reportedly bear zero foreign transaction fees (as of April 2022).The company claims that the Liquid platform reduces expense reporting hours by upto 66% and reconciliation time by 95%.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;Navan had around 8,800 enterprise customers as of April 2022, at which point Liquid was used by over 600 companies, including Zoom, Lyft, Pinterest, and Patreon.&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34893">October 2024</a>, Navan partnered with Brex&nbsp; to create BrexPay for Navan, an integrated business travel and payments solution. Previously Navan partnered with Visa and Mastercard in June 2023, to launch “Navan Connect”, a patented card-link solution that allows businesses to connect corporate cards from third parties, for expense management and reconciliations. The company planned to expand its network tie-ups in the future.Funding and financialsThe volume of transactions processed through Navan reportedly increased by 7.5x since the period between June and September 2022.In October 2022, Navan <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13743">raised USD 304 million in funding </a>, comprising a USD 154 million Series G round and a USD 150 million structured financial deal, to invest in expanding its global operations. The round valued the company at USD 9.2 billion, against its USD 7.25 billion valuation in October 2021. Moreover, the funding came just weeks after Navan reportedly <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13440?industryIds=76">filed confidentially to go public </a>in Q2 2023 at a USD 12 billion valuation.&nbsp;

Navan

Ramp offers a comprehensive set of tools for expense and payout management. Its “5-in-1” software covers business expense cards, expense reimbursement platforms, and bill payment solutions (through ACH, checks, and virtual cards) and also includes automated accounting and reporting. Ramp came out of stealth in February 2020 with its business expense card offering (including physical and virtual cards) and thereafter expanded to other expense and payout solutions. The platform also offers bi-directional integration (to incorporate a contract review process into the approval workflow), dynamic intake forms, purchase order enhancements, among other features&nbsp;The platform lets users set and implement spend controls and expense policies and also helps enterprises manage their expenses through categorization, real-time reporting, and insights. Ramp claims it can enable businesses to close their books 86% faster than through traditional expense methods and reportedly reduces its users’ spending by 3.3% on average. In October 2024, Ramp launched Ramp App Center, a new app store that allows third-party developers to build specialized apps that integrate with Ramp's platform. &nbsp;Ramp has used acquisitions as a means of inorganic growth. In June 2023, it <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19688">acquired Cohere.io </a>, to drive AI-related projects to help customers save time and money. Ramp also offers autonomous agents that concentrate on essential tasks such as expense management, fraud detection, and contract negotiations, utilizing both internal data and the broader linguistic context from GPT and the internet. In January 2024, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26114">Ramp&nbsp; acquired Venue, </a>a procurement solutions provider (primarily for large organizations) to improve employee purchase request, approval, and payment processes..Ramp can also be integrated with a range of third-party apps and service providers, including Amazon Business, Lyft, Corporate Traveller, Google Suite, and BambooHR.&nbsp;&nbsp;The company primarily generates revenue through card payment interchange fees, and was yet to generate revenue from its bill payment solution as of March 2022, despite seeing volume growth. Ramp expanded its bill payment solution in August 2022, by <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13437">launching buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) solution </a>, “Flex.” Ramp reportedly processed over USD 10 billion in accounts payable volumes annually, as of January 2024.&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;Although Ramp initially focused on the SMB market, the company has expanded its focus market to larger enterprises, including Ro, Avelo, and Anduril. Ramp had over 15,000 business customers as of August 2023. Based on the new customer sign-ups in June 2022 (compared to May) Ramp reported faster growth in its enterprise segment customer base - up 300%&nbsp; - than its mid market (up 50%) and SMB (up 22%) customers.&nbsp;Ramp has also invested in several expense management companies across the globe, including MENA-focussed <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/1833119">Pluto </a>(February 2022) and Indian fintech <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/947785">Karbon </a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24091">In November 2023, </a>Ramp collaborated with Microsoft Copilot, integrating AI for finance tasks, including card issuance and anomaly detection, reducing manual work with the&nbsp; aim of streamline finances for enhanced strategic focus.In December 2023, Brex along with&nbsp; <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/780841">Ramp </a><a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25146">collaborated with Uber’s enterprise arm </a>to improve expense processing efficiency by automating the receipt handling for Uber transactions while ensuring&nbsp; compliance with company policies.&nbsp;

Ramp

Solutions that enable employees to avoid out-of-pocket spending on business expenses, using company-issued payment cards

Platforms that let employees scan receipts (through OCR) and automatically submit claims to receive reimbursements with the limited involvement of admin, finance, or HR staff

Platforms offering payout automation solutions that cover the process either entirely or partially—from vendor onboarding to making payments

Can extract information from invoices/receipts, classify expenses, automate approval and reconciliation processes, and offer insights

Tools can usually be customized based on a user's business nature and workflows

Partner with open banking infrastructure providers to enable account-to-account payments and topping-up cards

Insights and visibility on expenses and payout processes improves transparency in business spend and reimbursements

Solutions commonly include software platforms that digitize, automate, and offer insights on expenses for businesses

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>
 Tab Commerce, a corporate card developer for the restaurant industry, has secured USD 2.5 million in seed funding. The investment round was led by Toba Capital and included participation from Matchstick Ventures, Mucker Capital, Cascade Seed Fund, and several restaurant customers. This funding has increased Tab Commerce's total capital to USD 4 million.
 The company has plans to use the new capital for the continued development of its cost control platform for restaurants. It also intends to create new financial products that are uniquely tailored to the restaurant industry.
 Tab Commerce specifically designs corporate cards aimed at helping restaurants manage their expenses. The company offers various physical and virtual cards options, 1% cashback on all purchases, software to control costs, and customizable spending limits. In addition, Tab Commerce has formed a partnership with the Texas Restaurant Association to provide the TRA Corporate Card.
</div> Analyst QuickTake: 
 Tab Commerce is the first company in our coverage . It offers specialized business expense solutions for the restaurant industry, catering to a range of different functions, from managing corporate expenses to making restaurant and manager-level purchases.&nbsp;

Tab Commerce

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