Merge Raises $4.5M to Simplify B2B Integrations

Merge Secures $4.5 Million Seed Funding to Simplify API Integrations

Merge, a company specializing in the creation of customer-facing integrations with third-party applications, has announced the successful completion of a $4.5 million seed funding round. The investment was spearheaded by NEA, with participation from several prominent angel investors.

Investor Details

Notable angel investors contributing to the round include Greg Schott, the former CEO of MuleSoft; Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare; Tim Junio and Matt Kraning, co-founders of Expanse; and Ben Herman, CEO of Jumpstart.

Core Functionality and Market Positioning

Established in 2020, Merge concentrates on providing B2B businesses with a standardized API for accessing data from approximately 40 different HR, payroll, recruiting, and accounting systems. Future expansion into additional sectors is already planned.

Co-founders Shensi Ding and Gil Feig, who share a long-standing friendship and prior experience at Expanse and Jumpstart, emphasize that their service is designed to complement, rather than compete with, workflow automation tools like Workato and Zapier.

A Plaid-Like Approach to API Management

“Our approach is more akin to Plaid than MuleSoft,” explained Feig. “We deliver a unified API, enabling deep integration within a customer’s product. This allows them to establish a single integration with us and automatically extend these capabilities to their entire customer base.”

Integration management is also a key component, offering automated detection and resolution of issues – such as unexpected changes in API data schemas – without requiring engineering intervention.

Proactive Issue Resolution

When integration problems are identified by Merge’s systems, the company’s engineers can often resolve them within minutes. This speed is facilitated by an internally developed no-code tool for building and maintaining integrations.

Evolving Customer Expectations

Ding highlighted the increasing expectation among B2B purchasers for seamless integrations between their chosen tools. “Businesses now anticipate that vendors will offer integrations with all the other services they utilize,” she stated. “They prefer an all-in-one solution rather than needing to acquire a separate workflow product and connect it themselves.”

Expansion Plans and CRM Focus

While currently focused on specific verticals, Merge intends to broaden its scope significantly, with CRM being a likely next target. Despite Salesforce’s substantial market share, Ding noted that its API complexity often drives customers towards Merge for simplification.

Current Traction and Customer Base

Having emerged from stealth approximately two months ago, Merge already serves around 100 organizations, ranging from early-stage startups to publicly traded companies. The company attributes this success to its commitment to security, reliability, and SOC II compliance.

Pricing Model

Merge offers a free tier allowing up to 10,000 API requests monthly. Additional usage is charged at $0.01 per API request. Customized enterprise plans are also available for larger clients.

NEA’s Perspective

Scott Sandell, NEA managing general partner, who will be joining Merge’s board, commented, “The challenges associated with building and maintaining numerous API integrations are consistently voiced by companies within our portfolio. Merge directly addresses this widespread issue with its user-friendly, unified API platform.”

He further added, “Their platform possesses extensive applicability and represents a substantial improvement for any software company needing to construct, manage, and maintain multiple API integrations.”