BlackLine, the Nasdaq-listed maker of financial operations software, said on September 21, 2026 that it had acquired NetNow, a Toronto startup whose software handles customer onboarding and credit risk management for companies that sell to other businesses on credit.
Neither company disclosed the price or other terms. BlackLine said it would fold NetNow's tools into its Invoice-to-Cash product line and into what it calls its Agentic Financial Operations Platform. The announcement did not say how many NetNow employees would join BlackLine or whether NetNow would keep selling its software under its own name.
NetNow chief executive Nauman Hafeez said the two companies shared a view that credit teams needed better information and tools to manage customer risk, and that joining BlackLine would connect NetNow's data with a much larger finance platform.
What NetNow built
NetNow works on the steps that happen before a supplier starts trading with a new customer and before any invoice exists. Its software replaces paper, PDF and email credit applications with digital forms and keeps customer information in one place.
The product pulls together trade references, third-party credit reports, banking data and other inputs to help a credit team decide how much credit to extend. BlackLine said NetNow also uses AI to flag possible risk and fraud, and lets credit teams monitor existing customers so they can react when a customer's risk changes.
The startup started out with a focus on wholesalers and distributors, particularly in building materials. When it raised its pre-seed round in 2024, Fintech.ca described its customers as lumber yards, steel mills and manufacturers that need to manage credit for contractors and construction projects. TheSaaSNews listed electrical wholesale, HVAC, heavy equipment and roofing among the industries it served. In a statement at the time, NetNow said its customers saw an average 11x return on investment.
“Credit is one of the earliest and most consequential financial decisions a company makes in the customer relationship, yet the process remains remarkably manual for many organizations.”
Why BlackLine is buying
BlackLine is best known for software that automates the monthly accounting close, and it has been extending into accounts receivable under the Invoice-to-Cash label. Credit approval sits at the very start of that process: the decision on whether and how much to lend a customer shapes the receivables, bad debt and cash flow that follow.
Andy Lilley, who runs BlackLine's Invoice-to-Cash business, said credit was one of the earliest financial decisions in a customer relationship but remained largely manual at many companies. He said owning NetNow would let BlackLine link those decisions to the collections and cash application work its software already handles.
BlackLine also tied the deal to its push into AI agents for finance teams. The company said it wanted any AI used in credit decisions to come with human oversight and an audit trail, which it described as necessary for decisions of that weight. BlackLine said it serves nearly 4,300 customers.
The founders and the funding
NetNow was founded by Nauman Hafeez, Eli Costea and Soroush Arghavan, according to TheSaaSNews. Hafeez was chief executive at the time of the sale.
In September 2024 the company raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding led by Toronto's Ripple Ventures, with Centre Street Partners, Antler, Motivate Venture Capital and Day One Ventures also taking part. Fintech.ca reported that the round followed NetNow's time in the Intuit Prosperity Accelerator, and the startup said it had received a grant from Intuit after winning a customer-focus award there. NetNow said it would spend the money on AI product development, including document processing, data analysis and risk scoring.
No later funding round has been reported, and NetNow's headcount was not disclosed. Matt Cohen of Ripple Ventures said at the time of the round that NetNow was positioned to be the first credit management platform built for building materials industries such as lumber, steel, concrete and agriculture.
Advisers on the deal
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Blake, Cassels & Graydon acted as legal advisers to BlackLine. Lightning Partners was NetNow's exclusive financial adviser and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin advised NetNow on legal matters.
