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Chronicles

The story behind the story

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Cents, which makes operating and payments software for laundromats, raised a $110M Series C, following a $40M Series B in 2024

Axios Lucinda Shen

Context & Ripple Effects

Cents previously raised a $40M Series B for its laundry-industry management and payments platform in 2024, after which related coverage put its total funding above $77M. The new Series C is therefore a follow-on financing rather than an initial validation round.

The story matters because Cents combines operational software with payments in a narrowly defined service-business market. That pairing makes the financing relevant not only to back-office tooling, but also to the transaction layer used by laundromat operators.

First-order effects

  • Cents gains $110M in new capital following its 2024 Series B, strengthening its capacity to develop and sell its operating-and-payments platform.
  • Laundromat operators using or evaluating Cents now face a better-capitalized vendor in a category where software and payment workflows are offered together.

Second-order effects

  • Rival providers of laundromat management software or payment services may face pressure to match a more fully integrated product and support offering.
  • The funding reinforces the strategic value of controlling both business operations and payment flows, rather than selling standalone back-office tools to operators.

Third-order effects

  • If this model continues to attract late-stage funding, vertical software markets may increasingly organize around platforms that embed payments into core operating workflows.
  • That shift could favor vendors with distribution into fragmented local-business sectors, while making independent point solutions more dependent on integrations or partnerships.

The trend: Cents is part of the broader move toward vertical software platforms using embedded payments to deepen their role in everyday business operations.