Exactuals is a technology company.
Exactuals has raised $21.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Exactuals has raised $21.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Exactuals is a SaaS technology company that provides specialized software for automating complex, high-volume payments in the entertainment industry, including royalties, residuals, claims, and vendor payments.[1][2][3] Its flagship products—PaymentHub, SR1, and RAI—serve studios, unions, guilds, music publishers, record labels, distributors, and marketplaces by enabling direct deposits to 215 countries, tax management, royalty statements, and metadata cleanup.[2][3][4] The platform solves inefficiencies in manual payment processes, replacing paper checks with secure, transparent electronic transactions that save time and reduce errors, evidenced by 250% year-over-year growth in PaymentHub and over $1 billion processed by 2021.[2][5] Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Los Angeles (with offices in Nashville and New York), Exactuals raised $20.6M before being acquired and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of City National Bank (an RBC company).[1][2][4]
Exactuals was founded in 2011 in Studio City, California, by Co-Founder and CEO Mike Hurst, targeting pain points in entertainment payments like royalties and residuals.[1][2] The idea emerged from the need to automate data-rich, international transactions for rights-holders, performers, and contractors, evolving from a payments focus to a full platform with PaymentHub for global disbursements.[2][3] Key milestones include a $10M funding round in 2017 led by City National Bank, the 2020 acquisition of SR1 for royalty calculations, and explosive growth in 2021 when PaymentHub hit $1B in processed volume amid 250% YoY expansion.[2] This trajectory culminated in acquisition, integrating it into City National Bank's ecosystem for scaled media and music solutions.[1][2][4]
Exactuals stands out in payments software through entertainment-specific automation and integrations:
Exactuals rides the wave of fintech digitization in media and entertainment, where streaming, global distribution, and IP fragmentation demand automated royalty/residuals processing amid rising content volumes.[2][5][7] Timing aligns with post-2020 shifts to cloud SaaS for high-volume payments, accelerated by remote work and direct-to-consumer models, positioning it against competitors like Trolley or Well Paid in niche complexity.[1][7] Market forces favoring it include regulatory pushes for transparency (e.g., tax compliance) and banks like City National/RBC expanding into vertical software, influencing the ecosystem by enabling faster payee access and data standardization for labels, guilds, and talent.[2][4][5]
Exactuals is poised for deeper integration within RBC/City National's banking tech stack, potentially expanding beyond entertainment into insurance or adjacent verticals via RAI's API extensibility.[3][7] Trends like AI-driven metadata (building on RAI) and blockchain for royalties could amplify its edge, while global music/media growth sustains demand for scalable payments.[2] Its influence may evolve from specialist acquirer to embedded fintech leader, powering end-to-end workflows and setting standards for transparent, borderless creator economies—cementing its role in modernizing an industry long hindered by paper and delays.[1][5]
Exactuals has raised $21.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Exactuals's investors include Baukunst, Global Innovation Fund, IA Seed Ventures, Spero Ventures, TTV Capital.
Exactuals has raised $21.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $10.0M Series A in February 2017.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2017 | $10.0M Series A | Baukunst, Global Innovation Fund, IA Seed Ventures, Spero Ventures, TTV Capital | |
| Feb 1, 2017 | $11.0M Series B | TTV Capital |