Apron, a FinTech company, has secured £12.3 million in Series A funding in order to reduce the time that small businesses spend on processing invoices. The funding round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and Visionaries Club.
Founded by Bogdan Uzbekov, a former product leader at Revolut, Apron has quickly gained traction since its soft launch just six months ago. The platform is already processing millions of pounds worth of transactions every month, serving hundreds of client companies and thousands of payment recipients.
Apron aims to address the challenges faced by small businesses when it comes to paying suppliers. The process of sorting invoices, obtaining approvals, reconciling payments, and maintaining books can be time-consuming and inefficient. With Apron, payments flow through a network of users, connecting to existing accounting software used by businesses and accountants. This enables the automation of tasks that would typically take hours, reducing them to mere minutes.
The platform also offers the ability to pay multiple suppliers at once, supporting over 150 countries and 30 currencies, all at the real exchange rate with no hidden fees. The software simplifies payment authorizations and amendments, automatically reconciles transactions, and keeps books up-to-date.
Apron’s CEO, Bogdan Uzbekov, emphasizes the importance of prioritizing user experience when it comes to business payments. Apron aims to create a town square where accountants, business owners, and suppliers can come together to facilitate smooth and efficient money transfers. The goal is to transform payments from being a hindrance to becoming a catalyst for business growth, ensuring transactions can be completed quickly, securely, and with a sense of satisfaction.
With the new funding, Apron plans to expand its team and launch Apron Snap, a feature that will automatically capture and categorize invoices for accountants, saving them time and allowing for seamless integration with bookkeeping software. Apron Hub, a specialized offering for larger accounting practices, has also been introduced, enabling efficient collaboration, task assignment, and approval chains for multiple clients.
Apron’s innovative approach to invoice processing has the potential to revolutionize the way small businesses manage payments, empowering them to focus on growth and productivity.
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– Definitions:
– FinTech: a portmanteau of “financial” and “technology,” referring to the use of technology and innovation to improve financial services.
– Series A Funding: typically the first significant round of fundraising for a startup following seed funding, allowing the company to scale operations and further develop their product or service.
– Index Ventures: a leading venture capital firm that invests in technology-driven companies.
– Bessemer Venture Partners: a global venture capital firm that focuses on seed, early, and growth-stage investments.
– Visionaries Club: an investment fund that supports early-stage technology companies and entrepreneurs.
– Soft Launch: a limited release of a product or service to a select group of users or markets for testing and refinement purposes.
– Real Exchange Rate: the rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another, reflecting the actual value of the currencies in the foreign exchange market, without commissions or fees.
– User Experience (UX): the overall experience and satisfaction that a user has when interacting with a product, system, or service.
– Bookkeeping Software: software designed to record and manage financial transactions, such as invoices, expenses, and payments, helping businesses maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records.