Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates can have a significant impact on businesses that operate across international borders, but responding to these changes can be challenging for smaller companies. Grain, a newly launched startup, is introducing a product that enables finance teams of all sizes to better navigate and respond to FX fluctuations through hedging transactions. The company is launching with over $50 million in funding and has already processed more than $1 billion in transactions while in stealth mode.

To put this figure into perspective, Grain estimates that the total value of cross-border transactions exceeds $150 trillion annually, indicating a vast potential for growth. Although the company’s current processing volume is relatively small, it demonstrates the potential for expansion.

Grain’s funding consists of two tranches: a recently closed $33 million Series A round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from existing investors Aleph, Vessey Ventures, and Hanaco Ventures, and an $18 million seed round raised prior to that. Founded in 2022, the Tel Aviv-based company is poised for significant growth.

Grain’s product draws inspiration from successful concepts in the fintech industry, adapting them to create a unique solution. According to CEO and co-founder Dor Golan, traditional FX trading is typically dominated by large enterprises that work with investment banks, using complex algorithms and significant amounts of money to navigate the markets and maintain steady balances.

However, this approach is not feasible for smaller companies, which is where Grain’s solution comes in. The company’s product is an embedded solution that scales down the concept of FX trading to accommodate smaller transactions, using AI to identify the best FX hedges and packaging multiple trades together to achieve economies of scale, similar to how Robinhood enables micro-investing opportunities.

This process is designed to be simple and can be integrated into existing finance team interfaces, allowing companies to better inform their pricing strategies across different marketplaces and points of sale. The resulting shifts in currency values can help companies optimize their pricing and maintain competitive margins.

Co-founder and COO Michal Beinisch compares Grain’s solution to Stripe’s impact on the payments industry, stating that the company has achieved a similar breakthrough in the derivatives space. The founders’ extensive backgrounds in financial services, including experience at Barclays, Blue Orca Capital, and other fintech firms, have been instrumental in securing significant funding and driving the company’s growth.

The team’s expertise and track record were key factors in attracting investment, including the support of Bain Capital Ventures’ Mark Fiorentino, who was an early employee at Stripe before joining the venture capital firm. Fiorentino praised the Grain team’s unique combination of technical and commercial expertise, stating that their AI-native and user-first approach enables them to deliver greater stability, cost savings, and revenue growth for customers while reducing operational headaches.