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Exactuals has raised $21.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Exactuals.
Exactuals was founded in 2011 by Mike Hurst (CEO & Co-Founder).
Exactuals has raised $21.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Founded in 2011 and based in Studio City, California, Exactuals provides SaaS software platforms that automate complex royalty, residual, claim, and vendor payments for the global entertainment industry. The company has successfully processed over one billion dollars in total payment volume for major industry clients and organizations, including the prominent labor union SAG-AFTRA. Operating with an estimated 21 to 50 employees, the firm generates approximately nine and a half million dollars in annual revenue and facilitates direct deposit transactions across 215 countries. Prior to its corporate acquisition, the enterprise raised over twenty million dollars in total venture funding and reached an estimated post-money valuation exceeding thirty million dollars. Exactuals expanded its technical capabilities by acquiring Backlash Solutions before ultimately being acquired by City National Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada.
Key people at Exactuals.
Exactuals was founded in 2011 by Mike Hurst (CEO & Co-Founder).
Exactuals has raised $21.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Exactuals's investors include TTV Capital, City National Bank, Baukunst, Global Innovation Fund, IA Seed Ventures, Spero Ventures, John Svoboda, Mark Leslie, Russ Siegelman, Steve Dow, Palo Alto Venture Partners, S-Cubed 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 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2017 | $10M Series A | TTV Capital, City National Bank | Baukunst, Global Innovation Fund, IA Seed Ventures, Spero Ventures, John Svoboda, Mark Leslie, Russ Siegelman, Steve DOW, Palo Alto Venture Partners, S Cubed Capital, Skyview Fund, Stanford, Temerity Capital Partners, The Strand Partners | Announced |
| Feb 1, 2017 | $11M Series B | — | TTV Capital | Announced |
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]
