9. Sonovate

Founders: Richard Prime and Damon Chapple
Founded: January 2012
Website: www.sonovate.com

With two decades of experience in the industry, Richard Prime and Damon Chapple were well aware of the struggle recruitment businesses faced when trying to secure finance for their contractors. So together they founded Sonovate, a contract finance solution making paying and managing contractors simple and profitable for smaller recruitment firms.

Like many recent fintech disrupters, the company provides an alternative to the “rigid, off-the-shelf finance products offered by the banks”, with solutions tailored specifically to the recruitment industry, charging them a small percentage of the total contract turnover that requires funding.

Originally launched as an all-in-one solution for recruitment businesses, including website management and time-sheeting software, Sonovate shifted its focus to contract finance and now services 142 customers, growing at a rate of 20% a month.

Having secured £4m angel investment from Bebo co-founder and angel investor Paul Birch and thanks to a £10m funding line from American bank PNC, Sonovate will aim to finance up to £250m of the contract market over the next three years.

With turnover of more than £6m, and a projected turnover of a massive £25m for 2015, this fintech company looks to have found a high potential and lucrative niche.