Advanon offers an online platform that allows SMEs to finance their open invoices directly through investors.
They have now managed to close the second round and raised 13.5m CHF. Three quarters are available to invest over the platform and one quarter will be invested in equity. In addition to the biggest Telecom company from Switzerland, Swisscom, the two venture funds b-to-v Partners and VI Partners as well as the founder of Partners Group, Urs Wietlisbach, participated in the round. With the additional funds, Advanon plans to strengthen its leading position in Switzerland and expand into the German market.
The online platform helps SMEs to bridge the long payment terms that they’re facing nowadays. Fast growing companies especially are in need of Advanon’s service as they are often constrained in terms of liquidity. With more than 450 investors, Advanon has managed to establish a wide investor base and has financed all invoices within an average of 5 minutes. The young company has already won several prizes such as VentureKick I, II & III, a Working Capital Award of the Swiss bank Postfinance and was awarded as one of the top4 Fintech Start-Ups in Switzerland. Furthermore they received the governmental quality label “CTI certified” and are leading a project with scientists to revolutionize the credit risk algorithms.
Phil Lojacono, Co-Founder and CEO of Advanon, is very satisfied: „The reputable investors are helping us on a number of fronts. We are happy that not only the existing investors but also additional strategic investors decided to be part of our story. Together with our partners we’ll be ready to approach new markets, improve the quality of our product and grow the customer base”
Florian Schweitzer, Partner b-to-v Partners: „PhilipKornmann, PhilLojacono and Stijn Pieper are three extraordinary entrepreneurs. They built Advanon very focused and with very few resources and have already achieved remarkable success and impressive growth rates. They will now continue the Swiss success story in Germany and I’m thankful, that b-to-v can be part of this journey.“
The Swiss Start-Up was founded by three international founders that all met while working for Google in Dublin. It’s the leading platform in Switzerland when it comes to invoice financing and they have already attracted several successful investors in Switzerland. Amongst others there’s the European Business Angel of the year 2011, Daniel Gutenberg and the former deputy CEO of the private Bank J. Safra Sarasin, Eric Sarasin.