New York-based fintech startup Receive has announced a $4 million seed round to transform how small businesses access and manage their cash flow. Led by NextGen Venture Partners (NGVP), the round also included participation from Blank Ventures, Verissimo Ventures, Insight Partners, Clocktower Technology Ventures, and others. The raise brings Receive’s total funding to $7.1 million.

Founded by Ariel Blum, a former product leader at Melio, Green Dot, and American Express, Receive is on a mission to offer small and mid-sized businesses a faster, simpler alternative to traditional lending. Rather than waiting days - or weeks - for revenue to settle, merchants using Receive’s platform can access their earned revenue instantly, without credit checks or interest fees.

Bringing Earned Revenue Access Mainstream

The cornerstone of Receive’s innovation is Earned Revenue Access - a new category that empowers merchants to unlock liquidity from completed but unsettled sales. Whether payments are pending from credit card transactions, processors, or other platforms, Receive gives businesses real-time spending power on that revenue via the Titanium Boost Business Mastercard®, in partnership with Titanium Payments.

That spending power becomes especially valuable in capital-intensive moments like inventory restocks, payroll, or emergency vendor payments - where waiting even 48 hours can stall momentum. And because the platform is designed to embed directly into existing systems via white-label partnerships, payment processors and POS platforms can offer it seamlessly to their merchants under their own brand.

Smart Autonomy That Builds Loyalty

What truly sets Receive apart isn’t just access - but agency. Their recently launched SmartPay Calendar lets merchants dynamically schedule repayments based on their cash position and upcoming needs. Early repayments even boost their future access limit, creating a gamified incentive for strong financial habits.

And this is where a powerful founder insight reveals itself: The best fintech tools don’t just extend capital - they build behavioral alignment between user success and product utility. When your product teaches users how to win financially, and then rewards that behavior algorithmically, you’ve built a flywheel of loyalty. It’s not just UX - it’s long-term retention coded into product logic. That kind of feature design does what no rewards program can match: it earns trust through measurable financial upside.

A Founder’s Edge in Fintech

Ariel Blum’s experience leading product at Melio - one of the fastest-growing B2B payment startups - sharpened his understanding of small business needs and distribution dynamics. His insight into how merchants think, spend, and worry about cash flow directly shaped Receive’s approach. Rather than competing with lenders, Receive embeds within the payment stack to provide value from day one, without underwriting friction.

The strategy is working. Titanium Payments, their first major partner, is using Receive’s platform to offer its thousands of small business clients instant access to pending revenue - creating a competitive moat and increasing customer stickiness. This is the playbook that capital-efficient fintechs should study: start where liquidity is trapped, unlock it elegantly, and distribute through those who already own the relationship.

The Embedded Finance Path to Scale

Receive’s go-to-market model avoids expensive merchant-by-merchant acquisition. Instead, they’ve designed for scale through white-label partnerships with ISOs, payment processors, and SaaS platforms. Each partner can offer Receive’s earned revenue features within their own dashboard - instantly turning financial services into a value-add without requiring new infrastructure.

It’s a classic embedded fintech move, but with a twist: because Receive’s product is revenue-positive for its partners and cost-saving for merchants, its unit economics are designed for sustainability from the seed stage.

A Capital-Efficient Roadmap

Unlike other fintechs that burn capital chasing user growth, Receive’s strategy is lean by design. The $4 million seed round is being allocated toward scaling its SmartPay engine, expanding its partner integrations, and building data tools to refine credit models based on real-time business activity.

The team is intentionally compact but deeply experienced, focused on rapid iteration and value validation. With the groundwork laid and distribution taking shape, the next phases will involve larger platform integrations, potentially even with accounting or inventory systems to broaden the product’s financial visibility.

Why This Round Matters

In an environment where credit is tightening and small businesses are once again facing margin compression, Receive’s offering couldn’t be more timely. By giving SMBs access to what they’ve already earned - on their own terms - the company is not just easing operational friction but creating a new standard for what financial flexibility should look like.

For investors, the raise signals that embedded liquidity is the next frontier of SMB fintech. For merchants, it means faster cash. For founders? It’s a masterclass in how focused product design and partnership distribution can generate high-leverage outcomes without overspending.