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TBiConnect joins a foray of e-invoicing startups to be funded by Venture Capitalists

Latest to join the e-invoicing startups to be funded by Venture Capitalists is TBiConnect run by Simon Fox. Both OB10 and Burns e-Commerce top the VC funding tables for attracting the most cash to date. Among other funded companies include Accountis from North Wales, but they still require a significant funding round to enable an European expansion. For some reason, I do not see Accountis conquering the world similar to OB10, so their best hopes remain within the Europe, capitalising their key customer, DHL. UK companies looking for VC funding include United Data, which is yet to launch its e-invoicing solution. United Data’s Founder and I go back a long way, and I hope Mark Morahan will finally launch his much anticipated e-invoicing hub this year with a realistic business model than the last time (conquer UK before the world!).

I have known Simon Fox of TBiConnect for well over a year, and I am delighted to hear the closing of the first round of £330,000 from regional venture capital fund, South West Ventures. According to GrowthBusinessUK, TBiConnect is an online payment specialist. As far as I know, TBiConnect does not handle payments, let alone on-line payments. Their expertise lies in the exchange of Purchase-to-Payment documents between the sender and the recipient (the buyer and the supplier), and provision of procurement solutions.

TBiConnect has a similar model to Accountis, i.e. enterprise licensed based product. Both companies claim to have the ability to offer a hub based solution. Given that Accountis has been trading for more than five years, and continue to offer licensed based solutions, my advice to TBiConnect is that think strategically when deciding on the license vs. hub based model. Whilst licenses might be financially rewarding today, it may be prudent to set-up a hub now rather than later. Perhaps it is better for me to cover hub vs. licensed model in another post.

According to the story, the fund has committed its maximum initial investment of £330,000. There is also the possibility of raising a further £330,000 from the same fund after six months. South West Ventures has invested £6.9 million in 24 companies (an average of £287,500 per company) with £18.1 million left to invest. The fund is managed by YFM Group, which over the years have become a VC powerhouse operating in many regions of the UK. Doug Stellman of YFM Private Equity recently spoke at the Northern StartUp 2.0 event organised by me at KPMG Manchester.

According to Nick Simmonds, investment manager at YFM Group:

“TBiConnect has developed a proven solution to address the business need problems faced by many organisations handling thousands of financial transactions. We have been particularly impressed with the excellent management team and are delighted to back this exciting solution”.

As part of the funding package, former Amstrad CEO David Rogers has become the Chairman of TBiConnect. According to David Rogers:

“TBiConnect’s customer proposition is compelling. It delivers immediate cost benefits and control to financial systems. We’ve had immediate positive reception and industry recommendations from early customers on the strength of the ease, simplicity and operational benefit they’ve experienced. Investment from the South West Ventures Fund enables TBiConnect to make a forceful entrance for a long-term future in this emerging market.”

According to Simon Fox, CEO of TBiConnect:

“We are delighted to have secured the investment from South West Ventures Fund to support our vigorous growth plans. The business rationale for our service grows ever more powerful as corporates struggle to increase performance in every department, while maintaining stability of operations and IT.”

Just like many other players in the market, TBiConnect is no stranger when targeting the large buyers. TBiConnect targets medium and large organisations that generate over 100,000 transactions a year.

Whilst technologies are available, no UK company has emerged to provide a compelling solution to the SME. Accountis clearly has the technology but lacks a substantial business model to take the market by storm. Version One has early stage of technology, but requires significant development, which somehow I do not see happening under the current ownership structure. If Accountis is serious about the SME, it needs to consider setting up an independent company and provide the software under license to target the SME customer. The current set-up will not work. Why? Their matrices will never allow direct targeting of smaller customers, e.g. revenue per customer will be so low for sales team to get too excited. What this means is that the market is wide open for an innovative startup to penetrate the SME sector by storm. Who will rise to this challenge is not clear. I cannot see OB10 taking a punt at this market, as it’s ambitions are more global. What about Causeway Technologies?

What a pity! A lost opportunity! Anyone interested in exploring this opportunity more closely?

Published inEIPP/e-invoicing