Folio, a Durham-based financial operations platform built specifically for the hospitality industry, has raised $14 million in Series A funding, led by Thrive Capital and Construct Capital, with participation from Redseed VC and SciFi VC. The capital will be used to scale its procure-to-pay solutions - Folio Buy, Folio Bills, and Folio Pay - helping hotels streamline workflows, boost profitability, and drive real ROI.

A Unified Fintech Stack for Complex Hotels

Hotel financial operations remain shockingly fragmented. Folio tackles this head-on with a platform integrating purchasing, invoice automation, and payments. Its three core modules - Folio Buy (managed marketplace), Folio Bills (AI-powered invoice processing), and Folio Pay (ACH and virtual card payment automation) - transform disconnected back-office processes into seamless workflows.

Since debuting at HITEC 2024 and winning the E20X Judge’s Choice Award, Folio has rapidly onboarded hundreds of hotels, including HHM Hotels (39,000+ rooms/$2B revenue), one of its largest customers.

Folio isn’t just automating workflows - it’s upending the rules of implementation and adoption. Rather than demanding complex onboarding, Folio integrates as financial infrastructure, not just software. This approach minimizes disruption and builds trust. Founders take note: the most defensible B2B platforms embed invisibly - becoming the natively used system rather than an added tool. That positioning drives stickiness, premium pricing, and seamless scaling.

Here’s where most startups miss the mark: they push for feature-heavy adoption without studying internal user psychology. Folio flips that by reducing onboarding time, creating instant usability, and focusing deeply on the power user experience. If the power user (say, a hotel GM or finance head) feels empowered on Day 1, that cascades through the org. Founders building B2B workflows should obsess not over flashy UX, but over frictionless usability and contextual speed. Embed where the pain is sharpest, automate the 80%, and let the long tail fall away.

Proving ROI with Hard Metrics

Folio quantifies its impact clearly. Many hotels see 6-10% lift in compliance with negotiated supplier rates, unlocking cost savings tied directly to procurement strategy. One general manager reported reclaiming 40% of their time previously lost to manual invoice coding. Invoices are now 70% touchless, reducing steps from 39 clicks per transaction to just three; delivering real time and morale benefits.

Investor Backing with Sector Credibility

Leading the round, Thrive Capital and Construct Capital bring deep fintech and platform expertise, while Redseed VC and SciFi VC offer additional industry support. Construct’s Dayna Grayson commended the team’s ability to “turn messy, siloed data into intuitive workflows” while Redseed’s Daniel Benjamin emphasized Folio’s timely fit as hotels face rising cost pressures.

Built by Hospitality-Focused Fintech Veterans

Founded by fintech and hospitality technologists including CEO Kate Adamson, Folio blends deep domain expertise with real-world operational empathy. They observed firsthand that hotel teams are burdened by excessive manual work across silos and lacking any unified system. Folio’s value: workflows that enhance guest experience by taking the friction out of financial ops.

Hospitality’s Strategic Reckoning: Turn Cost Centers into Profit Centers

In the razor-thin margins of hospitality, inefficiency is painful. Folio reframes financial operations from a burden to a competitive advantage, allowing hotels to spend smarter, work faster, and operate leaner. This isn’t hypothetical - it’s happening in real hotels where Folio powers hundreds of millions in ordering volume annually, even hitting $500 million projected.

The hospitality sector is ready for digital maturity. Faced with rising labor costs and supply chain complexity, hotels need automation and visibility more than ever. Folio’s AI-driven, unified platform meets that moment, bridging the front desk, storeroom, and back office into a single operational flow.

What’s Next for Folio

With fresh capital, Folio is doubling down on integrations and automation. Upcoming priorities include:

• Faster deployments for large hotel groups
• Deeper supplier catalog integration and contract enforcement
• Enhanced AI invoice validation
• Strengthened connectivity with ERPs and property management systems

Folio’s roadmap focuses on infrastructure built for scale - speedy implementation, automated reconciliation, and robust control loops.

A Future Built on Hospitality Infrastructure

Folio is emerging as a foundational layer enabling hotels to make strategic, data-driven purchasing decisions effortlessly. As CFOs and general managers demand operational clarity instead of cumbersome spreadsheets, platforms like Folio will define the next generation of hospitality tech stacks.

This $14M Series A positions Folio to transform financial operations across the travel sector - delivering cost savings, operational agility, and happier employees. In an industry struggling with fragmented tech choices, Folio offers unity - and proves that financial infrastructure built with empathy therefore performs beautifully.