Fundbox

Next stop, Lisbon ✈️ Fintech Meetup Europe! As Fundbox continues to expand internationally, we’re focused on building capital infrastructure that can scale across platforms and markets. Our end-to-end platform brings together technology, underwriting, servicing, and access to capital, giving partners a faster, more flexible path to embedded capital. Prashant F., Anchit Singh, and Rob Carbonell will all be there. Interested in connecting in Lisbon? https://lnkd.in/ePg4AkEg

The narrative around fintech and banks keeps evolving. It used to be "fintech will destroy banks," then it became "fintechs will help banks," and now the question is "with AI, do banks need fintechs at all?" (Set aside the reality that many fintechs are also banks.) IMHO the more useful question is "what kind of bank are you and what problem are you trying to solve?" There are 4,200 banks in the US and just 32 of them hold nearly three quarters of the assets. In the EU, the ECB directly supervises only 109 banks out of roughly 4,600. Most banks don't have the budget to build and maintain that much. And AI may lower the cost of writing code, but doesn't change your balance sheet, your distribution, or your seasoned loss curve. If you're a bank thinking about SMB, do you have small business customers you can't serve economically? Or do you have capital to deploy but limited SMB distribution? Whether and how you should partner with a fintech like Fundbox depends on which one you are. Join me and my fellow panelists Andrea Zamorano (Amazon), David McHenry (HSBC Innovation Banking), Denise Johansson (Enfuce), and João Cruz (Revolut) on October 6 at Fintech Meetup in Lisbon.

As Fundbox continue to innovate on the modular capital infrastructure to help platforms launch and scale capital programs for SMBs, we expanded into Australia and Canada earlier this year (one more geo coming soon) and are actively exploring other markets to meet the global need for SMBs seeking capital. I'll be at Fintech Meetup Europe to meet folks building platforms that serve SMBs and are looking to address their capital needs. If you'll be around, send me a note or DM. It would be great to connect.

Square and Toast can underwrite using data beyond activity on their own platforms. With Fundbox, Uber can too. Fundbox can connect Uber activity with cash-flow data and business checking accounts outside the platform, giving Uber a broader view of each merchant’s overall business performance. That full picture can support more informed decisions, larger, better-fitting offers, and greater revenue for the platform.

Uber doesn’t need more merchants to apply. It needs a broader way to evaluate the merchants already asking. If 80% of applicants sit outside the current underwriting model, the opportunity isn’t at the top of the funnel. It’s inside the demand Uber already has. Fundbox can help Uber take a more informed second look, underwriting beyond Uber revenue with cash-flow, business checking, and broader business data.

Managing cash flow. Purchasing equipment. Accessing earned revenue. Investing in growth. Uber merchants have different capital needs, and one product can’t address them all. Fundbox can help Uber build a broader program designed to serve more merchants in more moments.