This former bond trader built a free app to help small businesses survive Brexit

Banks are widely expected to pull back from lending in the wake of Brexit. With 1 in 3 SMEs closing down due to cashflow problems, FUNDA is a new app aimed at helping the UK’s 5.1 million microbusinesses take control of their cash for a healthier business future.

When Sonny Sood left his job as a City bond trader after 13 years to start his own business, he realised how good he had it with his access to financial analytics.

The problem was, his trading tools were now out of his reach, and the services provided by his business bank account were slow & outdated.

This frustration led Sood to build FUNDA, a cash management platform for the start-up generation. Sood secured grant funding from ‘Innovate UK’, the governments innovation agency (part of Sajid Javid’s Department of Business Innovation & Skills) to fund his early prototype.

FUNDA is the first app platform to give small businesses freedom from their banks to actively manage their cash position in 3 areas:

• See where you spend & make book-keeping easier
• Get access to finance
• Earn more on your cash deposits

Here’s how it works

FUNDA app connects directly to any bank products that you have and aggregates them; whether it’s your business account, credit card or savings account. It then quickly and securely reads your accounts and sorts the data into categories so you can see exactly where you spend or where your cash comes from. It’s so much faster & cheaper than accounting software and empowers SMEs to take control of their business cash.

Intelligent Access to finance

But FUNDA is not about just about telling you where your money comes from & goes to. FUNDA is intelligent, and using algorithms it helps SMEs proactively assess their future cash position.

Research from the Government shows 1 in 3 SMEs ( & 42% of startups) close shop due to a cash problem such as late payment, lost client or poor planning. 90% of SMEs seek funding too late, just 1 week before they need it, and 70% approach only one lender for funding; thus driving down their chances of success or getting a good deal.

FUNDA is a platform that solves this problem by predicting your future cashflow & if you are running low on money FUNDA delivers qualified loan ideas from 100s of lenders and not just your bank; you can apply in app and get an answer on funding much faster than your bank.

Earn more from your cash deposits

A staggering £164 Billion is on deposit by SMEs in UK Banks with just four high street banks dominating 85% of all business banking. SMEs tend not to switch banks because they all have much the same offering.

Steven Major, HSBC’s head of Fixed Income research says that another impending global problem is sub-optimal growth., “The real elephant in the room is not the U.K. vote or a Trump presidency, The real elephant in the room is we’ll have low and negative rates [globally] for a very long period of time.” To reinforce this HSBC has started charging new small business customers for the cash they have on deposit at a rate of £5 per £1000.

FUNDA helps small businesses who have excess cash by finding, in app, higher interest paying deposits or investments. FUNDA platform searches hundreds of third parties so you can earn more interest from the cash you have without risking your liquidity or leaving your bank.

How secure is it?

FUNDA never holds, touches or has access to your money because it is strictly read only using bank level and biometric security. In order to open the app on an iOS mobile phone, it requires Touch ID or pin numbers. If customers decide to close their FUNDA account, all data is permanently deleted.

Take control

Sonny Sood, founder and CEO said, “SMEs are the true engine of growth within the UK and Brexit has put that engine at risk of misfiring”. There are 5.1 million SMEs that employ less than 9 people and banks have neglected these businesses for too long.” Research from Accenture, the IT consultancy, recently showed that “70% of small businesses seek business help from outside of their bank”.

Sood hopes these mobile tools will help startups, self-employed and SMEs proactively think about their future cash position avoiding catastrophic financial situations. If you leave cash management to someone else or ignore it, it can cause serious problems for your business. Thinking daily about liquidity, security and income pushes SMEs into a more disciplined & profitable approach without the need for expensive advisors. It encourages you to take control of your money. “Most microbusinesses do not need expensive accounting software, it’s waste as there are 3 million UK companies that are not even PAYE or VAT registered.

FUNDA also has ambitions beyond the cash market; The startup plans to facilitate payments in app to help the self-employed go cashless & take payments easier on the go simply with a mobile phone number.

FUNDA is launching in July on the app store and free to try until October 1st for those who register on their website.

Explainer Video

https://vimeo.com/170273262