Kobi Ben Meir and Amotz Segal founded Edge Funder in 2020 with a big goal: building a direct-to-merchant funding platform that would quickly give users multiple funding options.
What they didn’t expect was for their company to be acquired just a year later — before they even took their product to market.
Yes Lender, a financing company that services small businesses, bought AI fintech company Edge Funder in July 2021 for an equity deal valued at $5 million. (Edge Funder’s website is down post-acquisition.)
The founders — leaning into their backgrounds in marketing (Meir) and operations (Amotz) — bootstrapped the SaaS company until they realized they needed more capital to grow. That’s when they got the opportunity for an acquihire.
“We looked for an investment, and this offer presented itself with the ability to take our startup to the next level as part of a bigger, more established company,” Meir told They Got Acquired.
“[We] joined the leadership team of the company who acquired us to bring our product to market.”
How the acquihire of Edge Funder worked out
Meir serves as Yes Lender’s chief marketing officer and principal, while Segal joined the company as vice president of business development. Yes Lender is now rebranding Edge Funder’s presence to fit in with the new venture, Meir said.
“We had a few hills to climb, but the overall experience was good,” Meir said about the acquisition. “The buyers are a group of very experienced people with an impressive background. This allowed for a very detailed and open process.”
