TL 1 billion in support of SMEs’ cash flow
Fintech startups have solved the cash flow problem of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the pandemic period. Figopara has acted as an intermediary for SMEs, financing TL 1 billion since its establishment and TL 600 million since the beginning of 2020
IN the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, many small- and mediumenterprises (SMEs) continued to sell but had a cash flow problem. The disruption of the payments also negatively affected the manufacturers and distributors who manage the supply chain. Banks, on the other hand, created an opportunity for financial technology (fintech) startups to obtain a healthy measurement when it was difficult to find solutions to urgent needs due to their large corporate structures and different priorities.
Investor and entrepreneur Koray Bahar who made a name for himself with the successful sale of Foriba, Turkey’s leading electronic invoicing company, which he founded, to the global leader Sovos. He recognized this shortcoming and produced solutions with Figopara. He is currently leading a fintech startup that helps to find the balance of supply chains whose cash flow has deteriorated during the pandemic period. Koray Bahar, who became the head of the fintech startup that he founded after the successful sale of Foriba to Sovos last year, aims to produce solutions for smalland medium-sized enterprises, this time before large corporations. Stressing that the companies that closed down during the pandemic period were in a difficult situation not because they suffered a loss, but because they could not manage their cash flow, Bahar explained the change they experienced with Figopara. “At Figopara, with our expert employees, we mediate the easy, fast and reliable access of many
companies to the basic need of financing,” he said. “While we used to meet with customers in large plazas and business centers, now we are looking for a solution for the tradespeople. We also meet with large companies and banks in supply chain finance. However, our main concern is to improve the financial business skills of SMEs and to provide quick solutions to cash flow. As Figopara, we have brokered TL 600 million ($79.01 million) since the beginning of 2020 and TL 1 billion since our establishment in 2018. So, the thing we look at the most in Figopara is growth. If we can solve a customer’s need faster, I think we are doing the right job. We constantly monitor customer metrics.”
75 MILLION-EURO SUPPORT
“Large companies want to pay late, but SMEs want to access money instantly. Especially during the pandemic period, we solve the most important problems of SMEs overwhelmed by cash flow, and we mediate them to manage cash flow and working capital,” Bahar added, stressing that the solution developed will be better understood during the pandemic period. “We will use a
significant portion of the resources we will provide from our new $6 million investment tour, which we will finalize in October, to develop new technologies to mediate financing to SMEs. With our newly developed scoring solution, we will continue to be instrumental in the financing needs of SMEs by scoring the commercial performance of SMEs with objective criteria. Meanwhile, we will bring foreign resources to Turkey to support the financing of SMEs. We will ensure that the support of 75 million euros (TL 663.19 million) offered to SMEs abroad reaches SMEs.”
FIGOSKOR SCORES
Bahar stated that they will give points to the commercial performance of the companies with the solution they developed called Figoskor by closely monitoring the cash flow and financial health of the businesses they serve and further explained the process. “We offer different pain relievers to both sides in supply chain finance.” he continued. “With our bank business partners, we mediate large companies to extend maturities without risking their working capital and for SMEs to reach payments
instantly. This request is the same all over the world. With the Figogaranti model that we launched in August, we are now starting to produce Figoskors with the electronic invoice and electronic ledger data of companies. We will enable Figoskor SMEs to access cash from banks on more favorable terms with objective criteria. The number of companies producing electronic invoices is increasing day by day. We could only do this in a country where electronic invoices are used. We will not be late in doing global business as in Foriba. With Figoskor, it is imperative to quickly evaluate the cash flow needs of a business, based on objective criteria. We evaluate all our businesses on Figoskor and accelerate their access to their financing needs.”
BANKS, FINTECHS COLLABORATE
Bahar said that contrary to prejudices, banks can work with fintechs. “It is not easy for fintech projects to gain priority among the ongoing IT projects of banks. However, if both sides decide to take advantage of each other’s talents, things move quickly. We think that fictions that both sides will win will gain more importance,” he added.