Rippling stumbled into a $500-million financing round this month. The company had originally sought the capital because $545 million of customers’ money was frozen by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.The original need for the money passed when the FDIC guaranteed all SVB funds. But Rippling went through with a capital round that was raised in three days from prior investor Greenoaks and will use the funding for its operations.
First, the software company, which provides HR, IT and finance software and services used $130 million of its own capital for payroll for 55,000 customer employees whose payday was stymied by the SVBs shutdown. Rippling, which built its payments around SVB, had set up backup accounts with JPMorgan Chase, but had only 3.5 hours to meet that bank’s same-day payment deadline, although it negotiated additional time.
“First, I believe strongly in handshake deals, and didn’t want to break my commitment from Friday,” said Conrad. “Second, the round is at a good price that we believe reflects our performance, especially given the change in the fundraising backdrop over the last year.”
