Previse bags $11m from Mastercard and Reefknot Investments

Written by Ruby Hinchliffe
16th April 2020

Previse, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven payments solution for suppliers and buyers, has landed $11 million in funding led by Mastercard and Reefknot Investments, the VC firm co-founded by Singapore’s Temasek and Swiss firm Kuehne + Nagel.

The round also saw participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Hambro Perks and Augmentum Fintech.

Previse says the traditional months it takes for invoices to get paid is “disproportionately damaging” for SMEs, especially now

Previse says it will use the fresh capital to support continued growth of ‘InstantPay’, the fintech’s instant payment technology which it intends to roll out to more large corporate buyers around the world.

Currently the InstantPay platform processes more than 100,000 invoices a day, helping businesses maintain a steady cash flow.

In a time of global uncertainty during the coronavirus, millions of businesses will be chasing payments to meet targets and de-risk their balance sheets.

Founded in 2016, Previse uses AI to analyse corporate buyer data, detecting which invoices need manual input – the fintech says it is often very few. Those that don’t need a human eye can then be paid instantly.

Previse says the traditional months it takes for invoices to be processed is “disproportionately damaging” for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers, not only because it stunts their cash flow, but also because it limits their growth and investment opportunities.

“Now, more than ever, it is important to increase the resilience of supply chains and support SMEs that economies across the world depend on,” says co-founder and CEO Paul Christensen.

“The best way to do this is for large corporates to pay invoices fast. We give corporates the tools and incentives to do that, at our risk and with third party (bank) capital.”

Within the next five years, Previse says it wants to get five million suppliers paid instantly.

The fintech is part of Mastercard’s ‘Start Path’ programme, and the card issuer giant uses InstantPay with “a select group” of its own suppliers.

“The business world has accelerated, but the payments that enable it remain stuck in neutral,” says Mastercard’s EVP for global commercial products James Anderson.

“It is solutions and innovations like those being driven by Previse and Mastercard, through banks to their corporate customers, that will help businesses support their suppliers, and liberate them from inefficient processes.”