Industry News

Grundfos today bolstered its American municipal water utility business with the appointments of Thomas Morrison as Vice President, Service, and Rob Montenegro as Vice President, Municipal Sales.

Reporting to Regional Managing Director Duncan Cooper, Morrison, who joined Grundfos in 2007, will oversee the pump manufacturer’s service group across all business units and sectors, including commissioning, energy analysis/audit, service agreement and part specialists, as well as factory service centers. In addition, Morrison will retain his current Business Development responsibilities within North and South America for the water utility segment, where he will oversee municipal water utility product development, supply chain and marketing efforts.

Rob Montenegro will lead water utility sales, a post previously held by Morrison, which encompasses a broad range of water supply and wastewater applications solutions for municipal markets. A member of the Grundfos water utility business since 2014, Montenegro brings more than 20 years of experience leading commercial teams in the U.S. municipal market.

Grundfos supplies a full line of equipment and solutions designed specifically for water utility applications, ensuring that water supply and wastewater facilities meet future challenges and regulations.

Invoice2go, the App Store’s No. 1 mobile invoicing app, today announced the launch of its mobile payments feature, powered by Stripe Connect. Small businesses and freelancers who previously had to wait for cash or checks can now accept credit and debit card payments immediately through Invoice2go, giving their customers more ways to pay and helping them get paid faster.

The new offering is unique in that it brings the entire billing process seamlessly into one app, a game-changer for every U.S. business owner who has spent countless hours manually invoicing, collecting payment, and reconciling their accounts to keep cash flow in order.

Invoice2go has also hit a new milestone, with customers invoicing more than $1 billion per month, positioning the company to make an immediate impact on the more than 200,000 users who already trust the app to send their invoices.

As part of today’s announcement, Invoice2go has raised $15 million in Series C funding. The additional financing enables the company to aggressively widen its footprint in the Fintech space with the development of new features to fuel small business growth even further. The funding follows two previous rounds totaling $35 million, which closed in 2014.

The Series C financing was led by existing investors Ribbit Capital, who specialize in disruptive financial technology companies, and included Accel Partners, who have a track record of building startups into lasting category defining companies.

Micky Malka, founder of Ribbit Capital, said: “Businesses are interacting more and more through Invoice2go and we’ve been thrilled to be a part of it over the last year. We’ve now significantly increased our ownership through the Series C financing to further support what we believe is one of the most exciting financial software companies today.”

Invoice2go is trusted by business owners across all industries, from plumbers to personal trainers and creative freelancers. The app minimizes administrative work, with customers saving three hours per week on average, and helps users get paid seven days faster.

“No longer do America’s smallest business owners need to wait for a check in the mail. The ability to accept credit and debit card in a seamless way levels the playing field. They can meet the demand of their customers in today’s digital age, and improve their cash flow by getting paid faster,” said Invoice2go CEO Greg Waldorf. “There are more than 100 million small businesses around the world and we see opportunity for every one of them to operate more efficiently with simple technology designed specifically for them.”

“We’re thrilled to see Invoice2go begin offering credit and debit card transactions using Stripe Connect,” said Cristina Cordova, head of business development at Stripe. “Invoice2go is at the forefront of mobile invoicing, and today’s integration will make it easier than ever for their small business customers to get paid.”

According to a 2014 report from the Federal Reserve System’s Cash Product Office (CPO) on consumer payment choices, debit and credit card are by far people’s favorite way to make a payment, with 43 percent preferring debit card and 22 percent preferring credit card. Thirty percent prefer to pay with cash, and only three percent prefer checks.

A California-based video production freelancer, who had early access to the feature as part of a beta group, commented: “Now that I’m offering more payment options through Invoice2go, I’ve seen customers pay their invoices in as little as three or four days. This is a big cash flow improvement for me, and a better overall experience for my clients. It also eliminates the challenges I faced with checks, as most people expect 30 day payment terms, then wait 29 days and 23 hours to send the check.”

Invoice2go’s new in-app payment offering is available now. Download Invoice2go via the Apple iTunes store or via Google Play.

U.S. Boiler Company has announced a strategic partnership with URELL, Inc. of Watertown, Massachusetts. This partnership will couple the nation’s largest manufacturer of hydronic heating equipment with the premier manufacturers’ representative in New England and Upstate New York.

Effective 12/1/2015, URELL will represent U.S. Boiler Company and the Burnham brand in the six New England states and Upstate New York. URELL will also represent other companies in the Burnham Holdings group, including Burnham Commercial and Thermal Solutions.

Founded in 1949, URELL has a wealth of experience in the plumbing and heating industry. Headquartered just minutes from Boston, the company fields extensive inside and outside sales teams, serving the largest hydronic heating market in North America. In addition to sales, URELL offers direct customer support through product and application training, certification classes, counter days, and other marketing events throughout the region.

By combining the depth and breadth of U.S. Boiler Company’s complete line of high efficiency gas, oil, and condensing boilers, with the wide-reaching capacity of URELL’s sales organization, this partnership will bring an unmatched level of sales, service, support, product offerings, and overall brand excellence to customers in New England and Upstate New York.

John Guest^® presents the new Black Shut-Off Valve in 3/4” CTS for use in the U.S. domestic plumbing market.

The Shut-Off Valve includes both an indicator arrow displaying the off position and two interchangeable buttons for color coding hot and cold water. This feature allow users to quickly identify the differences in water temperature. Also, the valve provides a firm 1/4 turn long handle to prevent unwanted movement allowing for both easy repair and installation purposes.

Manufactured from high quality engineered plastic, the black exterior is also UV stabilized allowing for functionality outdoors. Produced in white with 1/2” and 3/4” CTS sizes as well, the Shut-Off Valve is now available for sale and has both NSF/ANSI Standard 14 & NSF Standard 61 Certifications and complies with the latest edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code^®.