Lili raises $15 Million in funding to accelerate growth and support expansive customer adoption

Lili, the all-in-one banking app designed for freelance workers, announced it has raised a $15 million funding round to accelerate growth as the American workforce is increasingly turning to freelancing during COVID-19. The round was led by Group 11, with major participation from Foundation Capital, AltaIR Capital, Primary Venture Partners, Torch Capital, and Zeev Ventures. The funding brings the total amount raised to $25 million, following the company’s seed round in June. The new capital will be used to support Lili’s rapid expansion, as growth in the freelance economy has driven a 700% increase in transaction volume since the beginning of the pandemic. The company plans to use the funds to expand its product and engineering teams and accelerate customer adoption. There are nearly 60 million freelancers in the U.S. In addition, as a result of COVID-19, 12% of the US workforce started freelancing this year. This accelerated shift toward independent work has led to nearly 100,000 freelancers opening Lili accounts since its launch. Average monthly spending per customer has more than doubled in 2020. Lili is the only company that combines banking services with real-time expense tracking, tax tools, and financial insights so freelancers can stay in control of their finances. Freelancers across dozens of industries and all 50 states have opened accounts via the iOS and Android mobile apps. Whether they’re full-time independent workers or part-time freelancers, Lili’s customers span across many industries, from e-commerce shop owners to designers, programmers, fitness instructors, construction workers, chefs, beauty professionals, and more. Lili’s customers gain free access to 38,000 ATMs across the country without a minimum balance requirement and they pay zero account, overdraft, or foreign transaction fees. To build a true all-in-one-banking app, Lili has continued to launch unique features that help freelancers manage their finances and businesses; new offerings include:

• Enhanced expense management: Sort expenses into even more categories with a quick swipe, plus add a note and a photo of a receipt
• Quarterly income & expense reports: Automatically generated reports that save freelancers time and hassle on their quarterly taxes
• Digital debit card: Freelancers can start using their Lili accounts online immediately; no need to wait for the debit card to arrive in the mail
• Google Pay functionality: Instantly send and receive money through Google Pay, in addition to Cash App and Venmo

Lili’s founders are serial entrepreneurs with 20 years of banking industry experience: CEO Lilac Bar David and CTO Liran Zelkha (who previously worked as a freelancer) were inspired to create a solution for independent workers’ financial pain points. Before Lili, Bar David and Zelkha founded Pepper, the first and largest challenger bank in Israel. They grew the company to more than 200 employees who designed and built the banking product from the ground up, including Pepper Pay (mobile payments), Pepper Bank (banking services) and Pepper Invest (investment app). “We believe the future of work is freelance, and as the pandemic has recently changed everything about how people approach their careers, the American workforce’s shift toward independence has accelerated even faster than we anticipated,” said Lili co-founder and CEO Lilac Bar David. “Our mission is to empower freelancers to better manage their money and businesses, and we’ve seen exponential growth in demand over the past several months, as more people are looking for all-in-one financial solutions that are tailored to the unique ways they work. We are looking forward to expanding our product suite and market leadership while providing freelancers with an unparalleled banking experience.” “We have been impressed with Lili’s clear product-market fit and subsequent growth,” said Dovi Frances, Managing Partner at Group 11. “As the global workforce evolves at a rapid pace, we are excited to lead another round of funding to help Lili capitalize on unprecedented demand and offer an entirely new solution to help freelancers seamlessly save time and money.”