(Bloomberg) -- Vendr Inc., a firm that centralizes business software purchasing and management, announced it was valued at $1 billion after a $150 million funding round that came as many startups are struggling to raise funds.

Traditionally, enterprise-level software acquisition requires months of discussions between procurement teams and salespeople. Vendr, founded in 2019, negotiates and manages contracts, and has processed more than $1.3 billion of transactions.

“Software is now a top-five line item for the vast majority of companies,” said Ryan Neu, Vendr’s founder who used to lead sales at HubSpot Inc. “We identified that most companies were overpaying on software by 20-25%.”

Vendr is particularly popular among mid-size companies without the leverage and procurement teams of a huge corporation that can lead to favorable deals. Its average customer has 750 to 1,000 employees. The list includes Canva Inc., DraftKings Inc. and the Washington Post. Typical customers have more than 180 applications under management, Neu said.

Craft Ventures -- whose co-founder David Sacks sits on Vendr’s board -- led the funding round alongside the SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The two VC firms were joined by Sozo Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Sound Ventures, Tiger Global and Y Combinator.

Fundraising started last month, or as Neu put it, “the eye of the storm” when it comes to the climate for tech investment. During the month, Sequoia Capital was warning its founders that the good times were over, and Lux Capital told founders that job cuts would be needed as “the world is falling apart.”

Meanwhile, Vendr was nearly doubling its valuation. Neu attributes this to the cost-cutting nature of the service, which becomes more valuable in a recessionary environment. “If you save money, reduce risk -- that’s where the doors are still staying open.”

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