A startup which allows small businesses to integrate various third-party bank accounts and financial tools into a single platform has raised £2.2 million.
Aurelia aims to allow SMEs to run their finances and business more efficiently by giving them greater control over cash flow, taxes, eCommerce transactions, expenses, invoices and payroll.
The collaborative platform also allows teams to automate manual tasks and workflows without having to know any code.
Aurelia was founded by Sebastian Trif, one of the first engineers at Transferwise who also led the UK mobile engineering team for JP Morgan’s new consumer bank Chase, and Jasper August Tootsi, a full-stack engineer and serial entrepreneur who launched his first startup in high school.
With the leadership team spread out across the UK, Estonia and Romania, Aurelia has a pan-European vision and an insight into what small business owners need across these different markets.
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“We see lots of FinTech apps and banks that try to capture everything a business has but many small businesses aren’t keen on moving their company’s financial life into a new product,” said Trif.
“Instead, business owners want a platform that can simplify what it means to run a business, so it should be as simple as checking your email.
“With Aurelia, we allow people to bring together the software and tools they are using already, give them an overview of what’s happening across these different platforms, and start automating on top of it.
“We’re excited for people across Europe to get to experience Aurelia and start automating repetitive financial tasks, so they can reclaim their time and focus on what they need to do to grow their business.”
The seed funding was led by Blossom Capital and will be used to develop the platform and expand the team ahead of Aurelia’s beta platform going live in Estonia, Romania, Germany and the UK.
Angel investors including Guillaume Pousaz, founder and CEO at Checkout.com – through his Zinal Growth investment vehicle – and Erez Mathan, ex-COO and CRO at GoCardless, joined the round.
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Aurelia claims to be able to save owners more than a month of time every year by ending their wrestle with financial admin. It also says SMEs can increase revenues by up to 10% by automating the chasing of missed invoice payments.
The company is looking to launch its beta platform in the UK, Romania, Estonia, and Germany before the end of the year and will use the funding to further develop its features and expand the team.
Ophelia Brown, founder of Blossom Capital, said: “As a small business owner ourselves, we know first-hand how painful and broken it is for SMEs to manage their finances and accounts.
“After searching for years for the right solution, we committed to Aurelia on the spot. They understand the problem set clearly and we’ve seen how powerful no-code automation is with Tines.
“Aurelia is building the platform that will empower small businesses owners across Europe to take control of their financial data.”