Bound, the platform setting out to make currency hedging simple for SMEs, is being tipped by VCs to be one of Europe’s next major fintechs.
The company has already secured over $6.5M in seed capital from some of the founders and VCs behind Klarna, Stash, MX and Qonto to help it transform the UK’s SME forex market.
Institutional investors in the company’s seed round include three of the world’s leading venture capital firms — Valar Ventures, Moonfire and Album VC.
The space Bound is targeting is massively underserved. Currently, only 4%* of UK SMEs protect themselves from currency risk, compared to more than nine in 10 (94%**) Fortune 500 companies.
This is because hedging, to the average SME, is confusing and complicated. Bound’s mission is to address this and show every SME trading internationally that hedging doesn’t need to be a headache.
Bound, which is an Appointed Representative of MJ Hudson Advisers Limited, takes the financial complexity and forex nous out of managing currency risk. It gives SMEs a simple and effective way to protect their currency similar to that of a large corporation.
Crucially, Bound’s clients do not need to be finance experts or understand the complex hedging strategies used by forex pros globally, only that their money transfers are being optimised 24/7, 365.
The Bound platform provides customers with a simple interface free of finance jargon and even integrates with some of the major accounting systems commonly used by SMEs.
James Fitzgerald, General Partner at Valar Ventures, commented: “The market Bound is targeting is massively underserved and offers a huge opportunity for transformation. We believe Bound could become one of the major European fintechs in the years ahead. The management team has a clear vision of where the company is going and what it’s out to achieve: Democratising currency hedging and making it easily accessible to SMEs, something that is insanely overdue.”
Seth Phillips, founder, Bound, added: “Being backed by some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and VCs is an important validation of our vision. Right now, currency hedging, to the average SME, is confusing and complicated but it doesn’t need to be. We’re on a mission to help SMEs effortlessly protect their businesses from ever-changing currency rates and save them billions in the process. We have an aggressive strategy to acquire market share and are encouraging anyone who wants to be involved in our growth story to get in touch. We’re aiming to triple the size of our team in the next few months and are looking for smart people in multiple roles.”
Stefan Cars, Founder and CEO of Snowfall Travel added: “The travel industry is rife with currency risk but Bound makes that risk easy to manage for companies of our size. It’s a gamechanger for any SME trading internationally that is exposed to currency fluctuations. Best of all, it’s affordable, easy to set up and totally free of all finance jargon.”
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