Sonovate makes move into embedded finance

Source: Sonovate

Sonovate, the fintech lender that provides finance and technology services to businesses that engage contractors and freelancers, has launched brand-new cloud-native, API-first features to support its expanding number of enterprise* customers and enhance its embedded finance offering.

This enterprise-grade invoice platform will provide instant funding decisions and credit limits, variable advance and facility management, increased automation and enhanced reporting, allowing it to serve even more businesses.

The platform also improves the user experience and useability of several services that Sonovate customers rely on to achieve greater efficiency and productivity. Some of those are:
• Faster onboarding: Simpler setup and visibility over virtual and confidential bank accounts as well as enhanced connectivity to customers’ accounting systems to simplify day to day financial management tasks.
• Step by step KYC wizard to support customers’ compliance processes.
• More flexible withdrawal of funds, enabling customers to get funding as and when they need it, therefore allowing for better cashflow and working capital management.
• API enabled connectivity offering customers more visibility across systems to streamline debt management and reduce the need to reconcile across different platforms.

Richard Prime, co-founder and co-CEO at Sonovate, said: “As the demand for flexible working increases, our customer needs have become more sophisticated. Our aim has always been to grow and enhance our offering and our cutting-edge tech now offers customers greater flexibility in managing their funding requirements, facilitating cashflow so they can focus on running their businesses. Our new platform will not only strengthen our lending service, but enable us to expand into new geographies and fund more types of businesses, especially larger businesses.”

The launch of the new platform comes after a period of significant technology investment at Sonovate, buoyed by consistently positive financial and operational performance.

Last year, Sonovate funded a total of £700m, a 58% increase on 2020’s total funding of £444m. The volume of funding provided to enterprise customers increased by 144% year-on-year and enterprise customers now receive approximately one third of Sonovate’s total lending volume. This significant increase in volume provided to enterprise level organisations demonstrates the significant shift in larger companies’ preferences towards contract and freelance labour during the pandemic and indicates the huge potential market Sonovate stands to serve in the years ahead.

Sonovate, which began funding businesses to pay their temporary workers in 2013, is one of the fastest growing business finance lenders in the UK, providing embedded finance services to recruitment businesses, consultancies and labour marketplaces of all sizes. Since the start of 2020, the lender has onboarded more than 500 new clients, including a record number of enterprise businesses. In the same period, it onboarded a record number of small and medium sized businesses outside of the recruitment sector, while continuing to broaden its reach in the recruitment space – its primary vertical.

Over 30,000 freelancers, contractors and gig workers in more than 40 countries have now received payments from over 3,500 businesses funded by Sonovate.

Sonovate predicts even greater demand for its tech-driven finance in the coming year as the international business community gets back on its feet after the pandemic, continues to invest in its financial technology services and adapts to a more prevalent flexible working environment. Sonovate expects to hit £3 billion of total funding by summer 2022, driven by this shift in worker habits and product improvements.