Metronome Secures $43 Million Series B Funding to Revolutionize Usage-Based Billing for Software Companies
Metronome, a pioneering startup dedicated to assisting software companies in implementing usage-based billing, has successfully raised $43 million in a Series B funding round led by NEA. Notable existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, contributed to this financing, enhancing Metronome's total funding to over $78 million since its founding in 2019.
Founded by Dropbox veterans Kevin Liu and Scott Woody, the San Francisco-based company reported an impressive 6x increase in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) last year, driven by a growing trend of businesses transitioning from traditional subscription models to usage-based billing or hybrid approaches. Metronome's clientele includes innovative firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, alongside established enterprises such as Databricks and Nvidia. Initially focused on startups, Metronome expanded its offerings to enterprise-level clients last year.
"We were fortunate to experience such significant growth during a challenging time for SaaS," Liu explained. "While companies have been trimming budgets on 'nice-to-have' software, we’ve positioned ourselves as a key revenue driver for our customers. The surge in AI adoption has also played a crucial role, as many AI firms embrace usage-based pricing alongside their desire to transition away from purely subscription-based models."
In line with its offerings, Metronome operates on a usage-based billing model itself. Although the startup chose not to disclose its current valuation, Liu mentioned it reflects “a very healthy multiple above” its Series A valuation.
"We still have nearly all of our Series A funding available and faced significant oversubscription during this round," Woody added.
Attracting AI Companies
Metronome asserts that its platform drastically minimizes the engineering resources required for billing integration and ongoing maintenance.
“We empower teams to launch products quickly, implement any pricing structure, and streamline their quote-to-cash workflows—all without extensive engineering efforts,” Liu stated. Its data platform provides seamless integrations, enabling engineering teams to directly connect their data streams to Metronome, thereby reducing the need for maintaining extensive internal infrastructure.
For enterprises, the transition to cloud or usage-based revenue models generally necessitates significant changes to their financial systems. Liu noted that Metronome eases this transition by integrating with existing tools, reducing disruption, and rapidly accelerating the process.
AI companies, in particular, find Metronome’s services compelling. Woody explained, "The entire AI stack relies on usage-based cost of goods sold (COGS), from APIs to GPU infrastructure, motivating AI companies to adopt usage-based pricing to maintain stable profit margins. We've seen a substantial influx of inquiries from businesses eager to monetize new AI offerings."
Expanding Workforce
To accommodate this growing demand, Metronome has doubled its workforce over the past year, reaching 66 full-time employees, with a more than 40% increase in just the last quarter. The company plans to continue hiring throughout the year, especially in its research and development (R&D) and customer-facing teams.
Additionally, Metronome intends to utilize its new funding to propel its product development forward. "This funding equips us with substantial resources and runway, which is especially vital in today’s uncertain environment," Liu remarked. "We're developing essential infrastructure to ensure our customers know we'll be a long-term partner."
As part of this funding round, NEA partner Hilarie Koplow-McAdams has joined Metronome’s board of directors.
“Billing is often under-resourced and can become a bottleneck for product launches and pricing adjustments. In reality, it can be a critical revenue driver for any organization,” she stated in a formal statement. “Metronome enables companies to operationalize new business models rapidly, transforming billing from a crisis-level challenge into a reliable system.”
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