Digital Horizon is joined in this round by existing and new investors including Ascension Ventures (via their impact Fair By Design fund) and the UK government’s Future Fund, alongside prominent angel investors. The platform is available direct to UK customers, and this year the company will enhance and deepen its product and service offer, including embedded B2B specific offering.

SteadyPay’s award winning platform is designed to support the fast-growing gig economy. Many contractors, freelancers and solo-entrepreneurs find that the existing financial services system is not set up to meet their unique needs and circumstances. Financial incumbents are not ready to serve this fast growing segment who have a lack of traditional credit history. At the same time, most alternative types of lending options are prohibitively expensive, non-transparent or too complicated for this demographic.

SteadyPay tracks users’ financial data in real-time, and provides a suite of products that create and improve the financial stability of its customers, both directly and via partnerships with gig-economy platforms and employers. The flagship income-smoothing product ensures that if a users’ monthly earnings fall below average, SteadyPay tops up the account. This allows solo-entrepreneurs and freelancers to feel more confident when their workload or demand for their services falls for seasonal reasons, or due to them taking time off. The funds provided are repaid only when the customer earns above their average income — so when they can best afford it.

SteadyPay’s users pay a fully transparent weekly subscription. The company does not charge any additional or hidden fees — which according to the founders and their customers, is the most transparent and preferred method of doing business. Subscription terms are clearer to users than the complicated interest and fees structures of an overdraft or credit card. At the same time, the model gives users much better visibility and confidence in their cash flows. More importantly, it prevents the customers falling into a debt spiral, as can be the case for gig workers with traditional credit products.

John Downie, co-founder and CEO of SteadyPay said:

"This investment allows us to create financial stability for 100s of thousands more customers in the UK. We will offer more products to eliminate financial stress for our customers and partners."

Oleg Mukhanov, co-founder and COO / CFO of SteadyPay, added:

"We are excited to partner with Digital Horizon given their track record of investing in cutting-edge companies globally, as well as their intimate knowledge of fintech sector. Also, we would like to thank our existing investors for their continuing support of SteadyPay."

Alan Vaksman, founder and managing partner of Digital Horizon said:

"Fuelled by the pandemic and a new work paradigm, the gig-economy continues to create new forms of employment very quickly. However, the financial services industry has not evolved to meet their needs at the same speed. This means millions of people with a high, but not fixed income, have limited access to financial services. This is a social inequality and a missed business opportunity at the same time. SteadyPay has taken on the challenge, and shown that things can be done differently. The company’s talented team has improved scoring models and created an inclusive product for a huge underserved segment of customers. It is a bold and thoughtful platform, which has great promise."

SteadyPay’s business model is based on open banking technologies and its own credit insights and decisioning platform, which enables it to precisely evaluate and advise the credit risk of gig workers in ways which traditional methods cannot. The platform also allows for credit score building specialised for this segment. This approach is further enhanced using machine learning and artificial intelligence technology, developed in collaboration with Innovate UK.

About the companies

SteadyPay

Launched in 2018, SteadyPay is a smart solution for gig economy workers to protect their pay. A subscription-based app, SteadyPay automatically tops up workers’ bank accounts when their earnings are below average and allows customers to repay over easy and interest-free instalments.
steadypay.co

Digital Horizon

Digital Horizon is a next generation venture capital firm headquartered in London.

Digital Horizon has substituted the traditional approach to venture capital investment for its ‘new age’ methodology, which accelerates return on investment at every stage, minimizes risk and maximizes profitability. Digital Horizon supports and empowers passionate founders, especially migratory and diverse talents, who are creating enduring and meaningful start-ups.

Digital Horizon manages two multistage funds, a growth fund and a venture builder, and predominantly focuses on the fintech and enterprise software sectors. Its funds have invested in a portfolio of successful start-ups including Klarna, Lemonade, Monday. com, Ably, and Bolt.

Digital Horizon was founded in 2018 by Alan Vaksman, a venture capitalist and banker with over 20 years of experience in UK, Europe, and Africa. It now employs almost 100 specialists with expertise in VC, IT and product development.
digitalhorizon. vc