Fluidly wins £5 million in RBS competition funding to unlock AI for SMEs

  • Banking Competition Remedies Ltd (BCR) announces latest tranche of £425M Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF) awards
  • CIF forms part of wider £775M RBS Alternative Remedies Package, administered by BCR
  • CIF is divided into four pools and Pool D aims to boost financial technology relevant to SMEs
  • Starling Bank, Metro Bank, ClearBank and Tide were awarded £280M in February

London-based fintech startup Fluidly has been awarded £5M as part of the RBS Alternative Remedies Package. The grant is one of five from Pool D of the £425M Capability and Innovation Fund (CIF) that forms part of the £775M package, which is administered by Banking Competition Remedies Ltd (BCR).

Fluidly, which is already connected to thousands of businesses, will use the funding to accelerate the development of its AI-driven cashflow management software and give small businesses better access to emerging technology. CIF Pool D grant money aims to facilitate the commercialisation of financial technology relevant to SMEs.

Following on from its £5M Series A in November 2018 led by Nyca Partners, the £5M BCR grant will significantly boost Fluidly’s existing expansion plans, data science capabilities and product roadmap. Fluidly aims to unlock financial data for SMEs and transform how businesses manage their finances, while also bringing together the wider banking and fintech ecosystems.

As part of the various public commitments the company laid out in its BCR bid, Fluidly aims to connect 400,000 SMEs to its platform by September 2022. In particular, Fluidly will work with accountants to offer improved financial support, to help the two thirds of small business owners losing sleep over cashflow concerns. The company has committed to delivering over 20,000 hours of cashflow advisory training by September 2022.

BCR made five awards available to CIF Pool D applicants, who were also awarded £5M. The winners of other pools announced so far include Starling Bank, Metro Bank, ClearBank in partnership with Tide, Nationwide, Investec and Co-op Bank. CIF Pool C winners will be announced in August.

Caroline Plumb, CEO and Founder, Fluidly, said: “Fluidly works to help SMEs sleep better at night, by providing control, certainty and confidence around cashflow. We’re thrilled to have been awarded this £5M grant by BCR to scale our impact and support for businesses.”

We’re intent on building a product that helps  businesses with their most pressing challenge and allow them to benefit from the transformational potential of AI.”

Source: https://fluidly.com/blog/fluidly-wins-5m-in-rbs-competition-funding-to-unlock-ai-for-smes/

Manoj Ranaweera

Manoj has founded, failed and successfully exited from a number of technology product companies as well as support organisations since 2004. Among them, Northern Tech Awards and edocr.com were acquired by GP Bullhound and Accusoft, Inc respectively. Today, Manoj is building a trusted support network for technology companies. He is working with founding teams to help them accelerate including raising investment and M&A.

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