Startups Awards Hall of Fame: MarketInvoice

MarketInvoice, one of the UK’s leading alternative finance providers, was a finalist in our Innovative Business of the Year category in 2011 before going on to win our Young Entrepreneur of the Year award last year.

Following a year of accelerated growth, including a recent announcement that the Young Gun-founded company hit a £200m invoice-funding “milestone”, Startups catches up with the invoice financier to discuss its business progress since winning the award, plans for the future and how participating in the Startup Awards benefited the company as a business and a team.

What’s happened in the last year since you entered the Startups Awards?

In 2013, we funded a total of £13.8m and reached the £100m milestone – a year earlier than expected. 2014 has also proved successful as we traded over £100m worth of invoices already, taking our total funding to £200m – with all invoices that are approved for trade getting 100% funding. Our team has also grown, from 13 to 29 people since the start of 2013.

Finally, MarketInvoice was selected to channel government funding to UK small and mid-sized businesses, which means a committed amount of £5m, regular recycling of funds and buyers getting paid pack every 45 days – this will equate to £40m a year!

What’s been the single biggest highlight for the business since winning?

Cracking the £200m mark of traded invoices much earlier than expected – just seven months after hitting the £100m. This is particularly exciting as it took 12 months to reach £70m the previous year.

What are you hoping to achieve in the next year or so?

We are hoping to increase the amount the platform trades each month to £30m, as well as fine-tuning the in-house developed technology to make the process of selling and buying invoices even faster and to make it easier for businesses to receive funds in order to grow their business. We also hope to continue to grow the number of employees.

What did winning at the Startups Awards mean to you?

We felt privileged to win the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award last year. It meant that the MarketInvoice team’s hard work had been recognised, and we could proudly tell our clients and sellers that our innovations and business acumen is thought of highly amongst our peers. 

Why would you recommend entering awards like this?

We would definitely recommend entering awards like this. When a company receives accolades such as these, it really boosts team morale and confirms to everyone that not only are they doing a good job but fulfilling a mission. In our case enabling hundreds of UK businesses to grow, and in turn supporting the UK economy.