L-R Melio CEO Ilan Atias, Matan Bar/ credit Dana Tamari
Melio is an Israeli fintech unicorn that just saw its valuation cut in half, from $4 billion to $2 billion. The drop in valuation came after Melio raised $150 million in a Series E funding round led by strategic US investor Fiserv.
Less than one year ago, Melio was considered for acquisition by software services provider Bill Holdings for $1.95 billion in a cash-and-stock deal. The firm’s drop in value was related to the worldwide financial crunch that came about after the end of the Covid crisis. Like many other Israeli high-tech companies, Melio was forced to make cutbacks, laying off 60 people in August of 2022.
At that time, Melio explained the cutbacks in a statement saying, “Due to a shift in product priorities, we’ve made the difficult decision to separate ways from 60 team members across our Sales and Customer Success team. This is a hard day for the impacted team members and also for the rest of the Melio team as we have to say goodbye to great people that are close to us and who made Melio what it is today.”
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On the brighter side, in September Melio entered into an integration with the Amazon Business Reconciliation API to synchronize Amazon Business invoices in a single payment processing system, helping to save business owners valuable time. Melio is collaborating with Amazon Business to offer small businesses a one-stop invoice payments solution. The integration enables Amazon Business Pay By Invoice customers in the United States to pay all their Amazon Business invoices and any other bills with a few clicks through Melio.
Small business owners are bogged down by admin tasks, hindering growth. Automating accounts payable, in particular, can streamline operations and strengthen supplier relationships.
Founded in 2018, Melio provides a single, integrated tool that allows small businesses to transfer and receive payments in a faster, easier way; giving oversight and control over cash flow, reducing or eliminating late payment costs, and giving businesses back valuable time.
Melio was co-ounded by CEO Matan Bar, CTO Ilan Atias, and COO Ziv Paz. The three are experienced entrepreneurs. CEO Matan Bar sold his first startup The Gifts Project, to eBay and managed an international P2P payment team at PayPal.
COO Ziv Paz served as VP of the FIMI fund, which specializes in acquiring and improving companies. CTO Ilan Atias worked at PrimeSense, which developed sensors for detecting body movements. The company was sold to Apple. He also held a management position at Outbrain and Windward.
Melio has built a technological infrastructure that connects to various financial entities, including the development of algorithms that protect the system from fraud.
