Welcome to our first post. We are a Fintech startup based out of the Hague in the Netherlands and are super excited to join Steemit. Our startup is led by Johannes Brouwer, CEO, who has over four decades of experience in building and growing businesses and is backed by Johan Mastenbroek, Investor and Entrepreneur, who has multiple companies like EBPI, 216 etc. under his portfolio. We also have an experienced team consisting of blockchain developers, product experts, data scientists, domain experts and growth hackers who have built award-winning blockchain products for the Fintech industry in the past.
In Europe, even though SMEs generate almost two-thirds of overall employment and 62.9% of value added in the non-financial business economy, it is often difficult for SMEs to raise working capital. A lack of equity or failure to provide substantial financial information often forms the most important constraint for attracting bank finance. Traditional methods of alternate financing like invoice factoring are time-consuming, expensive and not user-friendly.
Realizing this problem, at Finturi - We are building an innovative invoice financing platform that reduces overhead costs, lowers processing time, predicts financial health score and directly connects SMEs and investors. This peer to peer invoice financing platform built on blockchain’s distributed ledger technology is sure to disrupt the traditional invoice financing industry. We combine the power of new age technologies like Blockchain, AI and Data Science in order to help businesses solve their cashflow problems in a safe, trusted and efficient manner. At the same time, we provide investors with the financial health score of SME and a platform where they can easily make informed investment decisions. Below are some additional details about Finturi.
What is the problem that Finturi solves?
Finturi solves the cash-flow problem of SMEs
Really? Do SMEs often run into cash-flow problems?
Well yes. Finturi’s research shows that keeping finance in a good order and projecting positive cash flow is one of the most challenging issues for an SME. SMEs want to grow their business by focusing on their goods and services rather than wasting time in following up with clients to collect money.
Even though goods or services are sold, since the clients have a period of 30–90 days to pay the invoice, it can take up to 90 days for the money to be deposited in the bank account. Since the SMEs must pay salaries and bills to keep the organization running, it creates a shortage of funds for the SMEs.
Finturi’s research shows that on average, a Dutch SME has a cash flow need 3.7 times per year. Usually, the involved amounts add up to no more than 20,000 euros at a time, and yet obtaining such financing can prove cumbersome. This why SMEs need to look for options for raising capital.
Got it! But don’t SMEs have enough financing options already?
Well, currently SMEs do have options to go to the bank for loans. Business lending is a core activity of banks and bank loans constitute the main source of external funding for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, banks pay close attention to the risks involved in financing business plans. A lack of equity or failure to provide substantial financial information hereby often forms the most important constraint for attracting bank finance. This is the reason why the development of the alternative finance industry is important. Traditional invoice factoring is a good alternate financing option, which is available currently. However, in the current system, there is a lot of manual process and paperwork involved. This results in higher processing time, operational and service costs and a higher rate of interest. It is also a hassle for the investor to invest in invoices, as he must do the risk assessment himself and then go through all the paperwork to finally invest.
Hmmm…So, how exactly does Finturi solve this problem?
Finturi aims to start with building an invoice financing platform connecting SMEs and investors and eventually build a peer to peer invoice financing platform where SMEs, Investors and Invoice buyers all come together on the same platform. This platform will be built on blockchain’s distributed ledger technology which will ensure the safety and integrity of transactions and data to the highest level. Smart contracts would be integrated on the platform which will ensure fast processing of data and seamless execution of money transfer. Technologies like AI and Data Science will be used to do a risk assessment and predict the financial health of SMEs. This will ensure higher trust between the parties. In spite of all the technologies running in the back end, the front end will be a very simple and user-friendly interface which will make sure that the entire process of raising money and investing money is just a matter of a few clicks.
Got it! But does it benefit only SMEs? Why will investors invest in this platform?
Finturi aims to build a win-win platform for both SMEs and investors. On the platform, different financial data sources are used to develop an algorithm for risk assessment and financial health score prediction. This makes it very easy for investors to make investment decisions. Finturi does all the work for investors and it’s just a matter of a couple of clicks for them to invest. Since everything is automated the operational and service costs are highly reduced. A lot of leading banks and private investors are already looking to be a part of the blockchain revolution. They already understand the power of this technology and want to use it to make financial transactions smoother, faster, easier and cheaper. The team at Finturi is already in talks with a couple of banks and investors and will work with such financial entities to build the perfect product.
When does the Finturi platform launch?
The product will be launched in phases. Currently, the team is working on a beta product and will launch the beta phase product and test it with a limited number of investors and SMEs. During beta testing, investors can bid on active invoices posted by SMEs and SMEs can raise cash quickly by selling invoice on the platform.
This is about Finturi’s journey so far! Finturi already has a strong team in place who has worked on blockchain products in the past and is all set to disrupt the invoice financing industry. Finturi is super excited to join Steemit and looks forward to collaborating with all Steemit users.
See any synergies? Want to participate in the beta test?
Comment on this post or email us on info@finturi.com and we shall get in touch with you.
Team Finturi
Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Medium | Facebook | Instagram