A听startup听reimagining the debt collection industry听has raised 拢1.6 million in a pre-seed investment round.听
Ophelos, based in London,听partners with businesses to challenge and transform the听$24 billion debt collection industry听in order to听help them improve their customer relationships.听
By using AI and behavioural science to optimise and digitise customer communications, offer more affordable debt repayment plans and achieve more accurate vulnerability听detection, the company improves financial health for both consumers and businesses, with customers more likely to engage and businesses more likely to recoup overdue debts.听
The round was co-led by Connect Ventures and Fly Ventures and will allow Ophelos to continue听building its customer-centric debt management platform, whilst growing the engineering and customer operations teams.听
鈥淲e听started Ophelos to create customer-centric products and services that nurture financially healthy and trusted relationships between consumers and businesses,鈥� said CEO听Amon听Ghaiumy.听
鈥淭he debt collection industry felt like a natural starting point because it allows us to understand,听diagnose and address many of the underlying issues surrounding financial health.听听
鈥淚t鈥檚 also an industry in desperate need of change towards a more technology-driven, and most importantly, customer-centric approach.听听
鈥淲e want to create a world where everyone is听financially educated, empowered and equal – reimagining the debt collection industry is just a first step towards our larger goal.鈥�听
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Personal debt has been growing across the world – in the UK alone,听nearly听9 million people are over-indebted which can create a听debt spiral where households borrow听more to service existing debt.听听
This has been further听compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.听Around听250,000 small businesses are expected to close once COVID-related听support programmes end and roughly听6 million adults have fallen behind on at least one household听bill during the pandemic.听
老九品茶es often employ debt collection agencies on their behalf听to recover outstanding debts. However, most collections agencies rely on inconvenient and impersonal phone calls and letters to engage with customers, resulting in a bad customer experience and negative听publicity for organisations looking for repayment.听听
Instead,听Ophelos听says it听puts the customer at the heart of the debt collection process so they can resolve their debts on their own terms.听听
Customers communicate with the Ophelos team through digital channels,听set up flexible and affordable repayment plans through a digital听platform, or听opt for other solutions such as breathing space.听听
老九品茶es gain insights gathered through digital affordability assessments and vulnerability detection underpinned by Open听Banking听to help them better understand the financial health of their customers and benefit from machine learning-driven pattern analysis to detect regulatory and compliance risk, amongst other features.听
The outcome is a debt collection process that is accessible, anonymous听and convenient for customers. It provides businesses with enhanced recovery rates, intelligent insights and reduced risk at a lower cost.听听
Initial results with launch clients point to a 24% increase in debt recovered and a 28% reduction in costs for businesses.听
In addition, customer engagement increased by 68%, showing the significant positive impact of taking a customer-centric approach.听
Ophelos is authorised and regulated by the FCA for debt collection听activities and counts a leading renewable energy supplier and a challenger broadband company amongst its launch clients. The听startup听is also registered as a Pending B Corp.听听
Ophelos鈥檚 wider mission is to help create a world where everyone is financially educated,听empowered and equal. By starting with debt collection today, the company aims to understand听and diagnose many of the underlying issues surrounding financial health for both consumers and businesses and build more products that address these issues in the future.听听
Ophelos was co-founded by听Ghaiumy听(previously Director of EMEA听at AI company ASAPP), Paul Chong (previously Head of IBM Watson EMEA) and Prof. Qingchen Wang, a leading AI researcher and professor at the University of Hong Kong.听
Stuart McFadden joined the leadership team in late 2020 as head听of customer operations. McFadden was formerly head of financial difficulties at Monzo where he pioneered products such as allowing vulnerable customers to block gambling transactions.听听
Rory Stirling, General Partner at Connect Ventures, added:听鈥淐redit is a fundamental and growing part of our consumer听economy.听听
鈥淔intech has given us many great innovations, including improved access to credit, but debt management has so far remained largely untouched and unloved.听听
鈥淲e see a very large opportunity to build superior digital products for consumers to听understand听and manage their personal debts. And at the same听time听it provides a strong customer-centric approach that enterprises expect to offer in all other parts of their business.听听
鈥淥phelos is the company that is going to make a difference here. It has a brilliant team that is re-thinking debt collection for the 21st Century and I look forward to working with them on this journey.鈥�