Slope, a B2B payments platform bringing buy now, pay later to invoicing, has raised $187m led by Sam Altman, with about $120m of it debt.
Alice Dang says businesses are leaving Oracle and SAP for Slope, which the hosts read as a sign it can win a large share of the $125tn B2B payments market.
Rogo, a seed-funded fintech built at Ali Corp, sells a ChatGPT-style finance tool whose footnotes link answers to exact source documents and pages, a verifiability edge the hosts say finance buyers demand.
Sam Altman Leads $187 Million Round for Slope
Funding and deals
Slope. B2B payments platform with buy now, pay later invoicing raised $187m, led by Sam Altman, with about $120m of it debt.
Rogo. AI research tool for banks and investment funds raised a $7m seed round after incubation at venture studio Ali Corp.
News
Businesses are leaving Oracle and SAP for Slope. Slope's Alice Dang told Forbes that customers are switching from Oracle and SAP. Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu read this as a sign Slope can win a large share of the category.
B2B payments is a $125tn market, mostly offline. About $119tn of it still runs offline. The hosts see that as the opening for Slope's flexible payment terms, collections automation and credit assessment.
Tegus and CB Insights hold an edge Rogo lacks. Their proprietary expert interviews could be worth millions. Sandhu says relying on data streams Rogo does not own is a challenge, while Sikand suggests Rogo could build its own proprietary data.
Data providers are all adding AI interfaces. The hosts say incumbents are building AI features or GPT-style natural language tools. They argue Rogo must stand out through footnotes that link to the exact source document and page.
Jamie Dimon says Bloomberg's prices need cutting. The hosts cite the remark as evidence of Bloomberg's notorious pricing, which gives young finance startups like Rogo a benchmark for charging high.
Bloomberg sold its terminal before it existed. In the 1980s Bloomberg sold the terminal before the product was built. The hosts say every article he published sold more terminals, and they urge founders to own their distribution.
Bloomberg funded its terminal with bank consulting. The company began with about six large consulting contracts from big banks to pay for the software. The hosts tell young founders that an agency can become a software business, since building software is cheaper than ever.
Slope suits physical goods sellers over services firms. The hosts say Slope fits physical goods companies with tight sales cycles better than services businesses. They call its invoicing beachhead a strong answer to bloated enterprise software.
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