Investly launches £500,000 fundraising to capitalise on Open Banking rules
INVESTLY, which enables investors to fund small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SME) invoices, has launched a £500,000 equity fundraising as it looks to take advantage of new Open Banking rules.
The European fintech marketplace, which operates in the UK and Estonia, launched its fundraising campaign on Seedrs on Monday to finance integrations with banks that it believes will drive the growth of the business.
The EU Payment Services Directive II (PSD2) – and similar Open Banking rules in the UK – mandate banks to share anonymised customer data with third parties. The new legislation is predicted to level the playing field between banks and fintech firms.
Read more: Zopa to launch income verification tool using Open Banking
“The PSD2 framework creates an exceptional opportunity and environment for cooperation between fintechs and banks,” said Investly chief executive Siim Maivel.
“This is a new era for banks, so they’re interested in developing strategic partners in every possible business niche to ensure they maintain their place in the new supply chain.
“Our aim is to become one of these invaluable partners, which would enable us to significantly increase our business volumes whilst providing their SME customers a flexible product within their bank.”
Read more: Special feature on Open Banking
Investly said it has already completed the technology preparation it needs to integrate with five UK banks: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander. It is also in talks with two Nordic banks.
Investly was one of 20 start-ups selected as part of Nesta’s Open Up Challenge last summer to receive a £50,000 grant to fund research and development into Open Banking.
Read more: Lack of communication holding back trust in Open Banking
The firm has bolstered its management team to coincide with its new business strategy. In December it named fintech veteran Calum Cameron as chief operating officer.
Cameron has experience scaling up early-stage companies in the UK and the EU and led European business accelerator Startup Wise Guys.
He has also led technology teams in ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Fuijitsu and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
“We are delighted that Calum has joined us to help realise this vision, and we look forward to taking the business to the next phase of its journey with this investment round on Seedrs,” said Maivel.
Investly has financed over £3.8m-worth of invoices in the UK and over €15.6m (£13.7m) of invoices in Estonia. Investors can earn annual returns ranging between 11 and 13 per cent, with an average term of 30 days.
