FinTech Paid has secured 拢2.2 million seed funding.听
The Darlington-headquartered firm is听launching to help enterprises transform supplier management with听a听鈥�next-generation鈥�听procurement platform.听听
The听round听was听led by Crane Venture Partners听with participation from听Seedcamp,听Techstars听and notable angel investors, including Angel Invest Ventures鈥� Jens Lapinski, GoCardless and Nested Founder Matthew Robinson, Outrun Ventures founder Chris听Adelsbach听–听in a personal capacity听–听and former Microsoft head of corporate strategy Charles听Songhurst.听听
Since the start of COVID-19, 97% of businesses have experienced some form of supply chain disruption, according to Paid.听
It says diversification of听suppliers and supply chain management听can allow businesses听to remain resilient, reduce costs and support their small–听and long-tail suppliers who are struggling to survive.听听
Co-founder and CEO听Tom听Howsam听said:听鈥淓very SME who has ever dealt with large enterprises knows the pain and the time it takes to do even a simple thing like onboarding as a supplier, signing a contract, or getting paid on time.听听
鈥�What they may not know is that that frustration is usually shared by the enterprise buyer,听whose听internal, one-size fits all process means they can鈥檛 move quickly.鈥�听
笔补颈诲鈥檚听software transforms the procure-to-pay process, enabling efficient onboarding, project scoping, sign–off and invoicing.听听
It claims its听software platform is simple to implement, allowing enterprises to get up and running in days and onboard suppliers in听10听minutes.听听
At launch,听Paid听is live with听BT,听which听spends billions annually to manage tens of thousands of suppliers.听
Cyril听Pourrat, Chief Procurement Officer at BT, commented:听鈥淐ompanies, including BT, can incur huge costs when onboarding and managing suppliers. We needed a better, more agile way to manage our suppliers and Paid solves that problem, offering us a way to save man-hours and money in one easy-to-use solution.听听
鈥�Paid, who are part of BT鈥檚 Procurement Digital Garage, has managed to reduce these costs, providing an easy and efficient way to work with smaller suppliers.鈥�听
Paid was founded in late 2018 and participated in the Barclays London Accelerator, powered by听Techstars, in January 2019.听听
It also has a base in London and employs six people.听With the new funding,听Paid听aims to double its team by the end of the year, hiring product, engineering and customer success team members as it grows its customer base.听
Jeremy Roche, founder of FinancialForce and听笔补颈诲鈥檚听new听chairman, added: 鈥淲hat really excites me about Paid is the way the team has built a comprehensive platform to solve a complex, real-world problem that every enterprise听faces听– how to handle their long tail procure-to-pay process in a cost-effective way, allowing them to access the most innovative suppliers quickly and easily.听听
鈥�This is the most intuitively designed solution I have seen to minimise effort for both enterprise buyers and their SME suppliers, removing friction from the procurement process and maximising benefits for both sides of the transaction.鈥�听