A Calgary-based FinTech startup that helps small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) unlock capital has secured $10 million CAD in debt and equity in seed financing. Quickly offers what it calls an early payment technology that companies can incorporate into their supply chains.
This enables firms to offer early payments at a discount to any of their vendors suppliers, or well as anyone else invoicing the company.
Quickly is industry-agnostic, but has gained traction in the construction, manufacturing, real estate, and energy sectors.
Quickly’s offering is an earned revenue access platform for vendors who provide services to other companies and bill for them with invoices. Quickly works with the company being billed to offer all of its vendors the opportunity to get paid right away. Once paid, the buying organization pays back Quickly based on their regular payment schedule, at a discount. This offers immediate payment for the vendor and savings for the buyer.
Thin Air Labs led the round, with participation from Plug And Play and ATB Financial, along with new and existing shareholders. The financing will support recruiting efforts, United States expansion, and growth for the company.
The round closed in early October, and ATB Financial provided the debt for Quickly to be able to supply early payment funds if a company chooses not to use its own finances.
Kyle Friedman, CEO and co-founder, told BetaKit that he and his co-founder are focusing on keeping the business lean and creating a minimum viable product.
Friedman said his investors really aligned with his startup. Plug and Play has a huge network, he noted. “They plug their tech companies into that network, so fantastic fit. Thin Air is a fantastic pre-seed or early funding investment company and they really got it—especially the similar customer profile and being in the FinTech space, they just really got it out of the gate.”
Quickly began two years ago. Friedman had worked extensively in the B2B space in different verticals, but found one factor in common: Companies of all sizes need to manage timely payments, and delays are much too common.
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“I was always looking for another company that could solve that,” Friedman said. But then one day, someone challenged him to take on that problem. He said he took a stab at solving the problem once and for all.
“The idea was ‘How do we get funds into the hands of people the moment they send an invoice?’ and then the real realization came from understanding the network and understanding the supply chain and the focus on the buyer,” he said.
The company claims the technology incentivizes early payment and offers instant payment to service providers as soon as they send an invoice.
Quickly claims that it has seen a 500 percent increase in customer adoption, and Friedman said the FinTech currently has over 100 customers. As well, the startup plans to hire for 12 positions over the next year. “We’ve definitely seen all the signs of success and we’re doubling down on the business,” Friedman said.
While Quickly remains industry-agnostic, it has gained traction in Canada, particularly within the construction, manufacturing, real estate, and energy sectors. The startup now has plans to expand into the United States.
