Small business challenger bank Novo raises $4.8 million

Novo, a digital-only bank for US small businesses, has raised $4.8 million in a funding round led by Crosslink Capital with participation from Red Sea Ventures, Hack VC, RRE, Rainfall, and the Stanford Law School Venture Fund. Launched in September last year with support from FDIC-insured Middlesex Federal Savings, Novo gives customers access to a free paperless business checking account with debit card access, all managed through a mobile app. Novo co-founder and CTO Tyler McIntyre says Novo aims to become the “financial watchtower for small business” offering data analytics through multiple partners and integrations with Slack, Stripe, Zapier, and leading accounting software to give users real-time insights and notifications on the financial health of their small businesses.