Atilano Martínez, CEO of INVERSA, interviewed by Fintech Spain

The consultancy Fintech Spain considers the invoice market as one of the segments within the fintech ecosystem that is developing the most worldwide. To the platforms that emerged a few years ago, Fintech Spain adds that "new ones are being added with the aim of disrupting the traditional market occupied, until now, by traditional banking with a value proposition focused on customer and technology." That is why #Fintechers, the blog of this company, has interviewed our CEO about the "pillars" on which our business model is based, our "value proposition" within the business financing market, and how we see "some of the fundamental issues of the fintech ecosystem" from INVERSA.

We reproduce in full the conversation between Pablo Blasco, director of Spain Fintech, and Atilano Martínez:

Where does INVERSA come from? What is your business model based on?

INVERSA arises as the alternative financing solution (non-banking) in the face of the growing banking concentration and the lower financing capacity of SMEs and freelancers. We are born to avoid the financial exclusion of smaller companies and that is why we are proud of the positive impact of INVERSA's "collaborative economy" on socio-economic development, sustainability, and the growth of these SMEs.

The business model is based on an online alternative financing platform that connects companies in need of working capital with a community of investors looking for higher returns for their savings through invoice discounting and promissory notes.

Technology allows us to offer an agile and transparent system. INVERSA professionals contribute their know-how and professional experience in the analysis and selection of invoices, provide the necessary infrastructure for publication, sale, and collection management, and facilitate communication between both parties (investor-company) at all times. It thus becomes a sustainable and fair business model in which all parties win.

How do you see your market in Spain? Are there possibilities to break the influence of Traditional banking?

Spanish SMEs have a huge liquidity problem that complicates their competitiveness and growth. With an average payment term in Spain of 77 days! - according to the Multisectoral Platform against Late Payment - we are at the bottom of Europe in this regard. That is why INVERSA offers these companies an alternative form of complementary and non-exclusive financing, which has been successfully contracted in numerous countries in our environment such as Germany, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Alternative financing (everything that is not banking) in Spain already accounts for 20% of the total. They have an advantage over us in Europe (30%) and the United States (70%). Although we have to step on the accelerator a bit to match other countries, our forecasts for crowdlending - and therefore for "breaking" the influence of traditional banking - are very positive. It is already a real financing alternative for SMEs and freelancers.

What goals have you set for yourselves for 2019?

INVERSA has ambitious and realistic goals. We have opened an office in Galicia and have a presence in Madrid, and we will continue to expand throughout Spain. We hope to reach 1,000 investors with a volume of 3 million euros financed for this year.

What difficulties have you encountered in launching the business?

More than with a difficulty, we have seen how some people did not quite believe that it is possible to launch an innovative and highly technological Fintech project like this from Galicia. Precisely INVERSA wants to highlight the integrating potential of technology to eliminate barriers and undertake.

Do you have collaboration agreements?

We have had the support of the Industrial Organization School (EOI); of the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion (IGAPE), which has co-financed our project through the "Galicia Emprende" program, and of the Xunta de Galicia, which has granted us a subsidy. In addition, INVERSA is part of BBVA Open Marketplace, an international platform that promotes innovation and facilitates connection between the different agents of the Fintech ecosystem in the world. Finally, in addition to the aforementioned presence in Madrid through FinTech Plaza, we plan our integration into ACLE (Spanish Crowdlending Association).

What is Inversa Academy?

Inversa Academy is part of our actions to spread the Fintech world, ethical economy, and technology. In this blog that we have opened on the INVERSA website, we include articles, interviews, a debate forum, and, in addition, we invite anyone who wishes to become a "Knowledge Partner", that is, a collaborator who writes about their professional field: the Fintech world, the company, finances...

Do you see collaboration between Fintech and traditional financial institutions feasible?

It is not only feasible, it is also necessary and fundamental for the modernization and survival of the Bank. Faced with the apparent digitalization that traditional financial institutions try to show us, banks still coexist with archaic organizational structures and computer systems that cannot compete against "platform" business models, like Amazon, Facebook, or Google, which threaten to break into the banking sector. Fintech, given their small size, are flexible, innovative, and can help banks in their modernization. In this regard, in Spain, Liberbank was in 2018 the first bank to ally with a crowdlending platform (October) for SME financing.

Thank you #Fintechers from Fintech Spain for your interview!

https://fintechspain.com/