Welcome to Tech City News @Work, our new series that gives you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at some of Britain’s best tech companies.
What is MarketInvoice like as a place to work? We asked MarketInvoice employees to describe their company, and these are the words that they used, unprompted: it is “professional, dynamic, innovative”, said one. It is “challenging, inquisitive, exciting”, said another. And it is “fast, fun, entrepreneurial,” added a third.
Based from offices in Holborn, MarketInvoice offers a new way for SMEs to access the capital tied up in unpaid invoices.
When MarketInvoice’s three founders – Anil Stocker, Ilya Kondrashov and Charles Delingpole – founded the company in February 2011, their mission was to change the lending landscape. In just three years, the company has achieved this and much more. The company has become one of Britain’s startup ambassadors: a Tech City success story.
‘Proud’
In a nutshell, the company allows SMEs to post invoices for sale as and when they choose, releasing critical working capital, while global investors compete for the right to provide funds. To date, the platform has been used to trade more than £200m worth of invoices for SMEs.
“I’m proud to be helping SMEs through MarketInvoice,” says Matt Cooper, the company’s director of sales and business development, who joined MarketInvoice earlier this year to help scale the business.
It is a very high energy environment to work in, and we’re constantly looking for people who want to get more out of their career than just a job.
The company is a breath of fresh air for the financial services industry.
This, says Dan Karger, a lead developer, is what makes it exciting to work at MarketInvoice: “Your work has a real impact on people’s businesses; you can see the effect of what you’re doing immediately, and how it makes a real difference.”
Expanding quickly
The company, which currently employs 30 staff, expects to employ 40 by the end of 2014 through expanding the sales, tech and marketing teams.
MarketInvoice offers all of the traditional startup perks, such as baskets of fresh fruit and table football, but training and career development is one of the company’s strongest areas. It recently introduced the MarketInvoice University (or just “MIU”, as employees call it), a training programme to help employees learn about the business and the wider industry.
“MIU is great: it allows you to learn about the product, but importantly, to learn around it too,” explains Katie Taylor, the company’s press officer, who joined MarketInvoice in January this year.
There are seminars we can attend with visiting experts to help us become experts in our own field, as well as individual modules if you want to learn about a certain area more deeply.
The programme is extremely helpful for new employees, who do not have to know every last detail about invoice finance before joining the company.
“Beyond that, everyone in the company is always happy to help too,” Taylor adds. “There is no stupid question. Everyone is there to help.”
Personal development
Roxana Ignat, a risk officer, says that the company offers everyone plenty of opportunities to do more. “They help you develop yourself personally.” she says. “You feel like you’re a part of the company’s story.”
Ignat has been at MarketInvoice since September 2012, so has lived through the company’s extraordinary growth. “As the company grows – which it continues to do, very quickly – more opportunities present themselves to us. You can really shape your own career here.”
This is a key perk of working at MarketInvoice, says Karger:
A year’s experience at a startup is like dog years in terms of experience.
Yes, you need to adapt quickly and grow as the company grows, but this is what I like about it the most: you’re constantly being pushed to do better.
You feel like you’re more than just a cog in the wheel.