Optimism in the Face of Global Pandemic: Announcing Assembled Financial Technology

I’m incredibly excited to be part of a new Joint Venture between Fractal and Assembled Brands: Assembled Financial Technology (AFT). If you haven’t seen it already, check out our press release here and Bloomberg TV spot here.

At Fractal our mission is to create a brighter future through software. AFT, working in tight collaboration with the finance industry and the SBA, is poised to do just that. We aim to create a more inclusive economy and more opportunities for small businesses and individuals by freeing up the flow of capital via automation and upgraded software in the finance industry.

Why we’re doing this

We formed this JV as a direct reaction to the challenges we observe in rolling out the Paycheck Protection Program; challenges that exist both on the banking side and on the government side. These challenges are shining a bright spotlight on the aging technologies that underpin our economy. And as two companies that sit right at the intersection of technology and automated finance, we believe it’s our civic duty to help fix it. As Marc Andreessen points out in his recent article, it’s time to build!

The Whole Industry is Helping

For a few weeks now we’ve been iterating our software solution around the clock, deeply engaged with both banks and the SBA. One thing that has struck a chord with me in every video meeting, phone call, and collaborative session: The people involved, from senior leaders at the largest banks to individual developers at the SBA, are 1000% committed to helping the American people make it through this difficult time.

I’ve never seen so many giant institutions (with, frankly, so little to gain) coordinate and act with such urgency and purpose. Both the SBA and banks have been working around the clock, nights and weekends, leadership included. We’ve talked to Senior Vice Presidents at banks who are manually reviewing and approving loans one by one!

Why I’m Optimistic

There’s obviously a lot of negativity in the media around how this program has been handled, and the technological failings that have resulted. And certainly there is a ton of room for improvement not only on the software side, but also the legislative side — especially ensuring the money is routed to small businesses who need it, not large public companies who want it.

But being involved behind the scenes, I can tell you that everyone we’re working with is acting from a place of civic duty; working incredibly hard to help the american people through this crisis. Not only that, there seems to be broad alignment from people well positioned in the industry that these changes need to persist into the future.

And that fills me with an incredible sense of pride and optimism for the future.