Munich Startup: When we last spoke, We were in the middle of the Covid crisis and the increase in online shopping had a positive impact on Fulfin's business at that timeWhat has changed since then?
Nathan Evans, Fulfin: After Covid came the surge in inflation and the associated rising interest rates. We all know how this affected VC funding for startups, and fintech funding has declined more than most. We We weren't really shocked by this and were very confident that our business model would survive the cycle.
Remember the old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going?" This certainly rings true for Fulfin, as this challenging time has been extremely positive for our company. For one thing, banks have further withdrawn from lending to SMEs, which, combined with the decline in VC funding, means SMEs are appreciating the opportunities offered by neolending more than ever. Another important effect is that while many other, less capable lenders experienced significant defaults, our AI-powered risk engine delivered industry-leading performance even during these challenging times. This made it much easier for us to raise equity and debt capital at very competitive rates.
Munich Startup: What obstacles did you encounter on your way?
Nathan Evans: Fortunately, all of our challenges are driven by our growth and opportunities. We're still a lean company, and it's never easy to find great people for a growing team, but growing and having to build the team is a luxury problem.
Fulfin is increasingly relying on AI
Munich Startup: How has your solution evolved?
Nathan Evans: The extent to which we Using AI and data science in our credit assessment, has increased significantly, and the role of the "human in the loop" underwriter is increasingly becoming one of validation rather than decision-making. This means credit assessment is even faster and the user experience is even better than ever. We are also making progress with our strategy to leverage our financial insights from evaluating thousands of companies and millions of financial transactions to help our customers make smarter financial decisions.
Munich Startup: And how are things going financially for you?
Nathan Evans: We are currently well capitalized and have a term until next year. Both the improved terms of our debt financing and the confirmation of our research funding have extended our effective term by several months. We will soon initiate another financing round to enable even greater growth, and we have already received significant interest from investors.
“If you expect the road to be straight and smooth, you are a fool.”
Munich Startup: What learnings have you as a founding team learned so far?
Nathan Evans: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face” is a famous quote by Mike Tyson. This is a metaphor for the life of a founder. Having a vision and a plan for how to get there is important, but if you expect the road to be straight and smooth, you are a fool. Startups face all the challenges that established companies face and a whole lot more. Our company, our product and even to some extent our vision are different than they were a few years ago, which I think is a very positive thing given the changed circumstances. What doesn't change are our values and beliefs and how we intend to achieve our goals.
Munich Startup: What role has the Munich ecosystem played in your journey so far?
Nathan Evans: Thanks to our good connections to the startup ecosystem and to TUM and LMU, we have always been able to recruit excellent talent in Munich. Many fintechs are based in Berlin, but we always felt that we could build our company just as well in Munich as in the capital. We grew up here, starting on the couch in the Plant1-Café to our current home in MTZ.
Fulfin has some important announcements to make
Munich Startup: What milestones are you working towards next?
Nathan Evans: We will soon officially announce an exciting technology and origination partnership with a German bank, which will positively impact our customer acquisition and potentially enable us to monetize the risk technology we have developed. Additionally, we have important product milestones in the pipeline that will make our platform even more valuable to our digital SME customers. We believe the future of lending lies with fintechs and are excited to see how our business evolves in the coming years.
