Hello Alice Announces Series C Funding Round and Expands Community to 1.5 Million Small Businesses

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Apr 04, 2024, 07:00 ET

The latest funding round with QED Investors and a leading group of funders, supports Hello Alice's mission to improve SMB access to credit and capital

HOUSTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hello Alice, the fintech platform connecting 1.5 million small businesses to capital, connections and opportunities, announced today the close of a Series C funding round with QED Investors, as well as Mastercard and others, bringing their total company valuation to $130 million. This new funding will continue to fuel Hello Alice's expansion of its capital offerings and AI-driven financial health tools for small businesses. Additional investors in this round of funding included Backstage Capital, Guy Fieri, Golden Seeds, Harbert Growth Partners Fund, How Women Invest I, LP, Lovell Limited Partnership, Tyler "Ninja" and Jessica Blevins, and Tamera Mowry and Adam Housley.

Hello Alice is a financial technology providing access to credit, loans, grants, and business planning services to small business owners, enterprise customers, and hundreds of business networks across the United States. Led by Elizabeth Gore, Carolyn Rodz, and Kelsey Ruger, Hello Alice is committed to equitable access to capital and to supporting any entrepreneur with a good idea, especially those in the New Majority. Hello Alice's enterprise SaaS offering gives banks and business services engagement and data analytics tools that provide transactions for their SMB customers.

This year, the platform has significantly expanded its community and now supports 1.5 million small business owners, one of the largest SMB networks in the country. Recently, Hello Alice has broadened its suite of inclusive financial products and programs with the Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard, the Business Health Score, the Equitable Access Program and the $70 Million Equitable Access Fund, and Elevate the American Dream. The first 14 grants under Elevate the American Dream have already been distributed this year to small businesses across the U.S. and Hello Alice will continue to award more grants over the next several weeks, putting their grant funding at over $40 million.

The latest funding round will contribute to the expansion of the Hello Alice AI-driven financial health services and Small Business Funding Center. This center connects owners with the capital they need to grow their small businesses, as well as the company's Equitable Access to Capital program, a commitment to ensure that all small businesses have access to the capital they need to cultivate sustainable enterprises that drive the national economy forward. Hello Alice is utilizing AI to continue to lower barriers for every entrepreneur. From improving the relevance of recommendations for capital and connections to sharing best practices across the community of over 1.5 million entrepreneurs, Hello Alice is focused on leveraging AI developments to improve efficiencies and equity across the small business ecosystem.

"We are thrilled to hit the milestone of 1.5 million small businesses utilizing Hello Alice to elevate the American dream. There are more entrepreneurs launching this year than in the history of our country, and we will continue to ensure they get the capital needed to grow," said Elizabeth Gore and Carolyn Rodz, co-founders of Hello Alice. "In closing our Series C, we welcome Mastercard to our family of investors and continue to be grateful to QED, How Women Invest, and our advocates such as Guy Fieri."

"Our team focuses on finding and investing in companies that are obsessed with reducing friction and providing superior financial services solutions to their customers," said QED Investors co-founder Frank Rotman. "Hello Alice has proven time and time again that they are on the leading edge of providing equitable access to capital and banking services to the small business ecosystem. We're thrilled that they're now serving 1.5MM small businesses and show no signs of slowing down."

"With Hello Alice, we're investing to provide support to small business owners as they look to access capital, helping to address one of the most cited business challenges they face," said Ginger Siegel, Mastercard's North America Small Business Lead. "By working together to simplify access to the products and services they need when building and growing their business, we're helping make a meaningful impact on the individuals who run their businesses, the customers they serve, and our communities and economy at large."

ABOUT HELLO ALICE
Hello Alice is a financial technology serving more than 1.5 million small business owners in all fifty states. Hello Alice is committed to equitable access to capital and to supporting any entrepreneur with a good idea, especially those in the New Majority. Hello Alice offers funding, education, tools, and curated opportunities. Working with enterprise business services, ecosystem partners, affiliates, and government agencies, Hello Alice provides its growing community with everything they need to grow their businesses. To learn more, visit www.helloalice.com, as well as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Contact:
Jennifer Laski
[email protected]

SOURCE Hello Alice