Previse nabs $11m

London and Glasgow-based Previse, an artificial intelligence and data science fintech company, has secured $11 million in funding. Reefknot Investments and Mastercard led the round with participation from return backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Hambro Perks and Augmentum Fintech.

PRESS RELEASE

SINGAPORE AND LONDON, UK, 16th April 2020 – Previse, the leading artificial intelligence and data science fintech that gets suppliers paid instantly, announces an USD11 million funding round led by Reefknot Investments and Mastercard, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Hambro Perks and Augmentum Fintech.

Reefknot is a highly strategic Venture Capital firm, jointly founded by Temasek Holdings and Kuehne + Nagel, which specialises in investment in and support to transformative logistics and supply chain technology start-ups globally. Reefknot has chosen to invest in Previse due to Previse’s technological capability to transform global commerce, enabling millions of suppliers to be paid instantly upon invoice, rather than having to wait months.
Previse’s artificial intelligence analyses the data of the corporate buyer to detect the very few invoices that need manual intervention, so that the rest are paid instantly.

Payment of invoices by traditional methods often takes months. This is disproportionately damaging to SME suppliers as it reduces their cash flow and limits opportunities for investment and growth. The current crisis has highlighted the devastating cost of this systemic inefficiency.

Previse’s current funding round will support continued growth, as the business rolls out its instant payment technology, InstantPay, to more large corporate buyers all over the world.
Previse is part of Mastercard’s Start Path programme, and Mastercard has used InstantPay with a select group of its own suppliers as part of an ongoing effort to make B2B commerce more efficient and sustainable.

Paul Christensen, Co-founder and CEO at Previse, said: “This backing and investment from our new partners will support Previse as our instant payment technology, InstantPay, moves to adoption by more large corporate buyers all over the world. Now, more than ever, it is important to increase the resilience of supply chains and support SMEs that economies across the world depend on. The best way to do this is for large corporates to pay invoices fast. We give corporates the tools and incentives to do that, at our risk and with 3rd party (bank) capital.”

“Previse is on a mission to get five million suppliers paid instantly, within the next five years, and this funding will help us achieve this goal.

“Reefknot and Mastercard have recognised the benefits InstantPay brings to the economy and have chosen to invest in Previse due to the profound impact it will have on supply chains globally.”

Marc Dragon, Managing Director at Reefknot, said: “We are excited about supporting the application of Previse’s leadership in using its technology and AI capabilities to transform global commerce.”

“Previse has identified and is addressing a huge problem which affects businesses all over the world, with a solution which is a win-win for suppliers and buyers.

“We are pleased to be part of their journey to promote sustainable supply chains by getting businesses paid instantly.”

James Anderson, Executive Vice President, Global Commercial Products at Mastercard, said: “The business world has accelerated, but the payments that enable it remain stuck in neutral. Effort needs to be applied to more strategic work and back-offices need tools to help streamline operations. It is solutions and innovations like those being driven by Previse and Mastercard, through banks to their corporate customers, that will help businesses support their suppliers, and liberate them from inefficient processes.”

George Davies, Partner, Hambro Perks, said: “Having identified the potential in Previse and backing them from day one, we are delighted to continue to support the outstanding team on their mission to get suppliers paid, instantly. This is needed now more than ever and we look forward to welcoming and working alongside Reefknot and Mastercard as we support Previse on this journey.”

Martyn Holman, Partner at Augmentum, said: “Much has been made of fintechs enabling a more efficient economy, and in Previse we have a leading example of just such a company – addressing a crucial aspect of large corporate/SME relationships which are often one-sided to the detriment of the SME. The Previse solution addresses this issue with a win-win proposition and if adopted widely will make the SME sector more efficient and more robust, and better able to prosper in an increasingly competitive market”.

About Previse:
Previse gets suppliers paid, instantly. Their AI analyses the data of a large company to detect the very few invoices that need intervention, so that they can pay the rest instantly.
Previse was founded in 2016 by a team of world-class experts in trade finance, artificial intelligence and enterprise technology. It counts Augmentum, Bessemer Venture Partners and Hambro Perks among its financial backers.

About Reefknot Investments:
Reefknot invests in high growth technology companies pushing new frontiers within the supply chain and logistics space. Beyond the pure financial investment, they further leverage their ecosystem of partners to support their portfolio companies with the necessary domain or technical expertise.

Reefknot’s platform provides founders access to the business insights of Temasek, the logistics & supply chain expertise of Kuehne + Nagel, and an ecosystem of high-value partners who will bring added support to help accelerate business growth.
https://www.reefknotinvestments.com/