We are excited to announce that Deloitte has invested in the Fractal team to help us further our mission to revolutionise the financial services experience small businesses get today.
In a pioneering move, Deloitte has invested in our award-winning AI-driven, API-platform for financial institutions so that they can better serve their small businesses clients. Furthermore, Deloitte will support our mission to democratise the small business banking ecosystem.
It’s no secret that small businesses face many challenges when it comes to banking and financing. Small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME) banking has been a segment that the banking industry has, at times, found challenging to serve due to its variety, complexity and unique requirements. As such, it’s reported that the worldwide SME funding gap has hit £4 trillion.
We are thrilled about our partnership and subsequent investment from Deloitte. They have been intricately involved in, and supportive of, the growth of FinTech in the UK. We always look for investors who believe in the same values we hold, and who will support our mission. Furthermore, they understand the vital role that the major financial institutions play within the British economy by supporting SMEs.
Why is Deloitte investing in Fractal Labs?
Deloitte works with some of the world’s biggest banks and best FinTech firms. They also invest in promising FinTech start-ups addressing part of the financial services value chain.
Deloitte has been working with us closely for some time, to help our clients transform the SME banking offering across the world. Deloitte have also integrated Fractal Labs' AI intelligence API into Propel by Deloitte’s accounting software. Amid this, Deloitte believed that with the rise of Open Banking, the logical next step was to provide further support with an investment.
Reflecting Deloitte’s desire to back the people behind FinTech start-ups rather than the technology they develop, Louise Brett, Deloitte’s FinTech leader states “You don’t invest in technology, you invest in teams. We worked with Fractal CEO Nicholas Heller and his leadership team for 12 months and we believed in them and saw the potential.”
How will Deloitte’s investment help Fractal Labs?
As residents of Deloitte’s FinTech lab in central London, the investment will also allow Deloitte to draw on its network, expertise and experience as a corporate venture capital (CVC) firm by providing support, mentoring and client introductions to us. It will also help us:
- accelerate our growth,
- build the team to deliver our offering to the international market,
- react swiftly to the growing market-pull for solutions solving the challenges SMEs face, and
- increase liquidity within the underserved SME segment (with the current UK funding gap standing at £59 billion).
SMEs are crucial to economies both for wealth creation and for the people they employ. Productivity growth is essential for promoting long-term economic growth and higher living standards. It is therefore vital that SMEs are given the best chance of succeeding with the best banking services they can access.
Fractal Labs CEO and Co-founder Nicholas Heller states: “It is a rarity to work so closely with such an established business, and still be given the freedom to build the products we truly believe will revolutionise the banking experience for small businesses, who are at the core of everything we do at Fractal Labs. Our ambition is to be a truly global business, and this new investment from Deloitte confirms that we are on the right track to achieve what will be an incredible feat with a partner who has a lot of confidence in both our team and mission”.
Deloitte’s FinTech leader Louise Brett reaffirms “We’re fortunate that we work closely with the Fractal Labs team. Seeing the swift progression they have achieved in such a short amount of time gives us the confidence we need to invest in not just a platform redefining the SME financial services offering, but the incredible, close-knit team who work extremely hard to build and market it. We truly believe in the CEO’s vision and the team’s ability to pull off such a feat across so many markets. We’re thrilled that they have taken up residence in our FinTech lab, and to have Fractal Labs as the first FinTech on our new portfolio”.