Montreal fintech startup NorthOne has closed a $2 million seed round from investors Peter Graham, Tom Williams and Ferst Capital Partners.

NorthOne is building a mobile-first, API-enabled banking platform serving Canadian small business (SMBs), startups and freelancers. The startup wants to eliminate the “devastating impact that poor financial literacy and financial management has on small business failure rates and costs.”

The NorthOne mobile app and API-enabled bank account connects to all the financial management tools businesses already use and gives them clarity into their financial health in real time while also automating the most time consuming financial management tasks.

“We’re building a banking platform that is designed around the unique needs of small businesses” said NorthOne co-founder and CEO Eytan Bensoussan. “Our team is focused on creating a banking experience that is designed to save entrepreneurs money, time and stress. We’re talking about hundreds of dollars in savings each month.”

More than 4,000 businesses have already signed up for NorthOne accounts ahead of the platform’s launch.

“NorthOne is one of those true platform opportunities. The team’s vision is to be an API-centric bank,” said investor Tom Williams. “There is no major bank that will EVER be able to rebuild their infrastructure to do this effectively.”

NorthOne plans to use the funds to expand the size of their team from five to 15 and to complete development of the NorthOne platform ahead of a late 2018 launch. Pricing will be based around a flat monthly fee which includes unlimited transactions and 3rd party app integrations.