Relay
Toronto SMB-banking fintech founded in October 2018 by Yoseph West and Paul Klicnik; its online business-banking and money-management platform (banking services via partner Thread Bank) targets cash-flow clarity for small businesses; $32.2M Series B in May 2024 led by Bain Capital Ventures.
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- Location
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Country
- Canada
- Known for
- Online business banking and money-management platform for SMBs; cash-flow clarity; up to 20 checking accounts and 50 Visa debit cards per business
- Founded
- October 2018, Toronto, by Yoseph West and Paul Klicnik
- Banking model
- Relay is not a bank; banking services are provided by partner Thread Bank, described as FDIC-insured
- Business model
- Interest on customer deposits, card interchange fees, and a $30/month Relay Pro premium tier with features like same-day payments
- Scale (May 2024)
- ~100,000 business customers; revenues rose 3x in 2022 and close to 6x in 2023
- Funding
- $19.4M round (May 2021); $32.2M Series B (May 2024) led by Bain Capital Ventures, total raised $51.6M; $50M growth investment from General Catalyst announced May 2026
Overview
This profile is about Relay Financial Technologies, Inc. — relayfi.com — the Toronto-based fintech that sells online business banking and money management to small and medium-sized businesses. It is not Relay Network, the customer-engagement feed platform, nor any other company sharing the Relay name: a software comparison page documents the two as entirely distinct companies, Relay Financial founded in 2018 in Canada and Relay Network founded in 2010 in the United States (Slashdot comparison).
Relay’s pitch is cash-flow clarity. Co-founder and CEO Yoseph West’s founding claim, as he told TechCrunch, is that small-business owners check their bank balances daily but find the information and functions they need missing: most SMBs have only about 27 days of cash on hand, and they need banking that gives them control over inflows and outflows rather than a static balance (TechCrunch).
From Vuru to Relay
West studied equity and debt finance in college and co-founded Vuru, a stock-market research app, in 2012. Fintech firm Wave Accounting acquired Vuru later that year; West stayed on and eventually became director of product engagement (TechCrunch). While at Wave, he developed the idea for Relay and teamed up with Paul Klicnik, an ex-IBM engineer who had previously built the core technical infrastructure at coupon app Flipp, to launch Relay in October 2018 (TechCrunch).
Relay is not itself a bank: it relies on its partner Thread Bank for the banking services it provides, which West says are FDIC-insured (TechCrunch). The platform lets a business organize income, expenses and reserves across up to 20 checking accounts, automatically set aside cash into savings accounts paying 1%–3% APY, and issue up to 50 physical or virtual Visa debit cards to employees (TechCrunch). Users can send and receive ACH transfers, wires and check payments like a traditional bank, capture and store receipts, and grant employees access through role-based accounts (TechCrunch).
The business model is threefold: interest on customer deposits, card interchange fees, and a $30-per-month premium tier, Relay Pro, that adds features like same-day payments (TechCrunch). The company positions itself against neobanks such as Bluevine and Mercury — but, West argues, with a deliberately different customer: not tech startups or solo owners, but “heart of America” small businesses with two or more employees and monthly revenue in the tens to hundreds of thousands (TechCrunch).
A funding arc through a fintech downturn
Relay raised $19.4 million in May 2021 to build out automation products for financial management, pitching back-office integration that would raise financial visibility while cutting administration time (ATM Marketplace). Three years later — in a funding climate where venture investment in fintech had fallen to $43 billion, its lowest in six years, and the banking-as-a-service startup Synapse had collapsed into bankruptcy — Relay closed a $32.2 million Series B led by Bain Capital Ventures, with BTV, Garage, Industry Ventures and Tapestry participating, bringing its total raised to $51.6 million (TechCrunch).
The round funded a push into spend management, smart credit products and a financial API marketplace, toward West’s stated goal of AI-powered predictive cash-flow analytics (TechCrunch; PYMNTS). By then the company served roughly 100,000 businesses, with revenues up 3x in 2022 and nearly 6x in 2023, and planned to grow its workforce from 140 to 200 people (TechCrunch).
In May 2026, Relay announced a $50 million growth investment from General Catalyst, reporting more than $1.3 billion in managed customer deposits and over 150,000 small-business customers, with a stated target of tripling revenue by the end of 2026 — though that round’s independent editorial coverage was limited to one fintech newsletter alongside PR republications of the company’s announcement (Pulse).
What this profile does not claim
- This profile does not claim Relay is a bank; it is a fintech whose banking services run through partner Thread Bank.
- It does not claim the 2026 General Catalyst round’s figures are independently verified — they come from the company’s announcement.
- It does not claim Relay has no competitors in SMB banking: TechCrunch explicitly names Bluevine and Mercury in the same space.
- It does not state West’s $100M annualized-revenue prediction as an outcome; it was a 2024 projection.
- It does not claim Relay serves consumer customers; its stated target is small businesses with employees.
Timeline
- 2012
- Yoseph West co-founds Vuru, a stock market research app; fintech firm Wave Accounting acquires it later that year, and West stays on, eventually becoming director of product engagement.
- 2018
- West teams up with ex-IBM engineer Paul Klicnik — who had built core technical infrastructure at coupon app Flipp — to launch Relay, a business banking and money management service for SMBs, in October 2018.
- 2021
- Relay raises $19.4 million in a funding round (May 2021), aiming to boost its automation products for financial management.
- 2024
- Relay closes a $32.2 million Series B led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from BTV, Garage, Industry Ventures and Tapestry, bringing total raised to $51.6 million; the roadmap covers spend management, smart credit products and a financial API marketplace.
- 2026
- Relay announces a $50 million growth investment from General Catalyst (May 2026), reporting over $1.3 billion in managed deposits and more than 150,000 small business customers, and targets 3.2x revenue growth by the end of 2026.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- This profile covers Relay Financial Technologies, Inc. (relayfi.com), the Toronto SMB-banking fintech founded in 2018 — not Relay Network (relaynetwork.com, founded 2010, a customer-engagement feed platform) nor any other company sharing the Relay name; a comparison directory page documents the two as distinct companies.
- The May 2026 General Catalyst $50M round's figures ($1.3B managed deposits, 150,000 customers, 3.2x revenue target) come from the company's announcement as covered by one fintech newsletter (Pulse) plus PR republications; independent editorial coverage was thin.
- TechCrunch renders Relay's monthly-revenue customer target as "$20,00 to $200,000"; read as a typo for $20,000.
- West's projection of $100M in annualized revenue by the second half of 2025 was his stated prediction to TechCrunch in May 2024, not a verified outcome.
- The 2021 $19.4M round is reported by ATM Marketplace per a company press release; flagged accordingly.
- Platform login-frequency figures (13x/month average; 40% daily among primary-banking users) come from the company's release as reported by PYMNTS.
Sources
5 sources (1 tier 1, 2 tier 2, 2 tier 3), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
- Supports: Founding story — West studied equity/debt finance, co-founded Vuru (2012), acquired by Wave, director of product engagement; teamed with ex-IBM engineer Paul Klicnik (Flipp infrastructure) to launch Relay October 2018; platform features (20 checking accounts, Thread Bank partner, FDIC-insured, 1–3% APY savings, 50 Visa debit cards, ACH/wires/checks, receipt capture, role-based accounts); business model (deposit interest, interchange, $30/mo Relay Pro); competes with Bluevine and Mercury; "heart of America" SMBs, 2+ employees, $20,000–$200,000 monthly revenue; $100M annualized revenue prediction for 2H 2025; Series B $32.2M led by Bain Capital Ventures, participants BTV/Garage/Industry Ventures/Tapestry, total $51.6M; ~100,000 businesses; revenue 3x 2022, ~6x 2023; workforce 140 to 200; Toronto-based; fintech funding downturn and Synapse context Open original source
- Supports: Corroboration of $32.2M Series B, spend-management/smart-credit/API-marketplace roadmap, Bain Capital Ventures lead, revenue 3x/6x figures, login-frequency statistics (13x/month; 40% daily for primary-banking users) Open original source
- Supports: $19.4M funding round (May 2021) to boost automation products for financial management; goal of integrating back-office systems for financial visibility Open original source
- Supports: $50M growth investment from General Catalyst (May 2026); over $1.3B managed deposits across 150,000+ small businesses; 3.2x revenue target by end of 2026; Thread Bank partnership Open original source
- Supports: Disambiguation only — documents Relay Financial (founded 2018, Canada, relayfi.com) and Relay Network (founded 2010, US, relaynetwork.com, customer-engagement feed platform) as two distinct companies Open original source
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