Fintech Insider Podcast by 11:FS
00:19:32 · Sarah Kocianski, Caroline Plumb
[00:19:32] S0: And that gets back to the advisory piece as well, doesn't it? Like, what what is the best loan for me? And the more data you have at your fingertips, the better you can recommend that. Right? So... [00:19:40] S2: Yeah. And I think... I mean, I don't know how accountants would feel about being financial advisors in terms of kind of credit or loans. But I think that ability to help businesses really understand what it is that they want, you know, are they looking to grow? What are their personal aspirations for the business? What is it that keeps them up at night? Because most businesses are built to drive brilliant customers for the products that they really love and love. So what are they really trying to achieve? And it's almost like human interpretation of what... Where are they trying to get to and how do we help them achieve that financially that I think accountants are particularly brilliant at. [00:20:10] S0: And that that is interesting because we've... I've spoken [00:20:11] S2: to people this day who've [00:20:12] S0: been talking about, you know, all this technology, all this automation that's coming into the cash flow and the accountancy space, but actually, what that leaves room for is the human touch. Yeah. And and small businesses actually need that more than consumers in some way. They need that human advisory piece.
00:20:12 · Sarah Kocianski, Caroline Plumb
[00:20:12] S0: been talking about, you know, all this technology, all this automation that's coming into the cash flow and the accountancy space, but actually, what that leaves room for is the human touch. Yeah. And and small businesses actually need that more than consumers in some way. They need that human advisory piece. [00:20:27] S2: Yeah. I mean, I think we see it as very much human plus machine. It's not human versus machine. It's more about kind of... And when we think about artificial actually one of things we talk about is augmented intelligence. So how do you take what you've got already and augment it? Sort of like superheroes, extra powers. [00:20:43] S0: Extra powers. So, you know, we we just talked about your your raise. You've talked... Given us a little bit an insight to what's, coming next. Is there... Is is is that your main focus right now? Is that growth, or is there a next level to the product maybe that that's coming? Is there anything you can tell me?
00:20:43 · Sarah Kocianski, Caroline Plumb, Christoph Rieche
[00:20:43] S0: Extra powers. So, you know, we we just talked about your your raise. You've talked... Given us a little bit an insight to what's, coming next. Is there... Is is is that your main focus right now? Is that growth, or is there a next level to the product maybe that that's coming? Is there anything you can tell me? [00:20:57] S2: Oh my goodness. We have so much on our roadmap. It is unbelievable. I mean, the focus really is about... Ultimately, our mission is about helping businesses sleep better, and so taking away that pain and that stress around cash flow. So it's all gonna be areas that help them understand what's coming in their financial future, the ability to trade scenarios around that, to understand what those different scenarios mean, and to actually take insights from the data and tell you, can you make payroll? Can you make VAT? You know, where is your expenditure going up that it really shouldn't be? What is gonna be the... You know, coming up for your financial future, how do you optimize against it. So we've got an awful lot to do. [00:21:31] S0: Well, when you launch them, do let us know and come back and tell us about them. [00:21:34] S2: Well, I would love to. Thank you so much. [00:21:38] S0: So I'm here with Christophe, who is the CEO and cofounder of iWalka. How are you doing today, Christophe? [00:21:43] S4: I'm doing really, really, really well. It's a pleasure to be here at ZioCon. [00:21:46] S0: Have you seen anything this morning, or have you not had a chance to to get in and see any panels?
00:21:46 · Sarah Kocianski, Christoph Rieche
[00:21:46] S0: Have you seen anything this morning, or have you not had a chance to to get in and see any panels? [00:21:50] S4: I've seen a lot of people coming here, a lot of accountants that all have their own story. It's great sort of to have someone like ZERO to really bring everyone together and share kind of the the latest and and greatest in the in the market to help small businesses with their day to day work. [00:22:08] S0: So whilst we're on, you know, the latest and greatest in helping small businesses, what is iWalker? What do you do? And how do you help small businesses? [00:22:16] S4: So I set the company up some seven years ago, and I really wanted to make a difference by providing much, much needed capital to the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that are really not served that well by the banks. And we've come a long way. We have funded more than 20,000 so far and are still growing at more than a 100% per year and are really starting to fill that void that the banks have left. [00:22:42] S0: So do you just operate in The UK or do you operate across Europe? [00:22:45] S4: Our main market is the is The UK. That's where where I started the company and where we we have sort of advanced most. But we're also operating in in Germany and and are growing there equally fast.
00:22:45 · Christoph Rieche, Sarah Kocianski
[00:22:45] S4: Our main market is the is The UK. That's where where I started the company and where we we have sort of advanced most. But we're also operating in in Germany and and are growing there equally fast. [00:22:58] S0: And so we're here at Zerocon, and you obviously have a partner of Xero. How important do you think it is that somebody like Xero builds an ecosystem for small businesses? So is it, you know, both both the small businesses to have one point of contact to go to, and for you as a company, how important is it to have kind of that that big partner behind you? [00:23:17] S4: I think it's incredibly important because small businesses, they need so many services that they don't even know that they might be useful for them. So being part of an ecosystem and having access to these services in a in a direct way curated by by a great company is incredibly helpful. We have seen this working really, really well for the likes of eBay and Amazon that also created a massive ecosystem around them to help small businesses sell through these platforms. And I think Xero is a much larger extension of this because, obviously, it touches the entire small business space, not just a vertical in in ecommerce. And I believe that that's absolutely vital and will help all of the small businesses to increase their productivity, give them time back, give them more insights to make to make more often better better decisions. And through the likes of us, get immediate access to capital to help them size the opportunities that, you know, always come along in a small business.
00:23:17 · Christoph Rieche, Sarah Kocianski
[00:23:17] S4: I think it's incredibly important because small businesses, they need so many services that they don't even know that they might be useful for them. So being part of an ecosystem and having access to these services in a in a direct way curated by by a great company is incredibly helpful. We have seen this working really, really well for the likes of eBay and Amazon that also created a massive ecosystem around them to help small businesses sell through these platforms. And I think Xero is a much larger extension of this because, obviously, it touches the entire small business space, not just a vertical in in ecommerce. And I believe that that's absolutely vital and will help all of the small businesses to increase their productivity, give them time back, give them more insights to make to make more often better better decisions. And through the likes of us, get immediate access to capital to help them size the opportunities that, you know, always come along in a small business. [00:24:18] S0: So do you think that access to capital is still a pain point for small businesses? Yes. Absolutely. Long time, but it's still