Coast raises $35M to police company cards in the trades
What's the deal? Coast, a New York-based fintech, has raised $35 million in a growth equity round led by Thomvest VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The company pairs company payment cards with software that lets businesses in trades like plumbing and construction control employee spending, pay vendors, and track purchases on the job.
How it works: A worker picks up a company card and checks in by text or app, linking it to their identity and employer-set spending limits. Coast can use vehicle location data to confirm a company van is at the gas station where the card is used — and block the purchase if it isn't.
Once a purchase clears, the software sends transaction details straight to the company's accounting system, cutting manual data entry.
Who's backing it? New investors Intuit and Small World Capital joined the round, alongside returning backers including ICONIQ Growth, Accel, Insight Partners, Synchrony, and The Fintech FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The raise follows a $40 million Series B and an earlier $92 million round. Coast declined to disclose its valuation.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2020 by former Wall Street engineer Daniel Simon, Coast wants to build a broader financial platform spanning spend management, bill pay, and automated accounting. "You need really specialized control, security, visibility, [and] reporting," Simon, the chief executive officer, told Fortune.
Why now? US demand for skilled trades is growing three times faster than for desk jobs, with openings for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning technicians up 78%, according to a March report by Randstad USA. Coast estimates its market at $120 billion and now serves thousands of businesses with about 135 employees.
What could go wrong? Coast is not yet profitable and says it prioritizes growth, reinvesting revenue into products and customer acquisition. It also enters a crowded spend-management market where rivals are adding finance tools — Motive announced more than $1.3 billion in growth financing in September to expand its platform for physical operations.
The signal: The round is a substantial bet on a specialized, real-economy niche rather than the AI-driven software that dominates venture headlines. With an undisclosed valuation and limited public performance data, though, it is hard to judge how much it shifts the competitive balance.
Read more: fortune.com
Image credit: Coast
