With more than ZAR 1-billion already provided to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 1 500 new jobs created and over 3 000 jobs sustained, founder and CEO Andrew Maren continues to seek opportunities for growth with his disruptive fintech company ProfitShare Partners.
“From the start, our mission was for PSP to be the driver of growth that sees SMEs become big businesses, such as Pele Green Energy and Rentoza,” says Maren. “Our success has been noted globally and doors are opening up for us where we may soon be offering partnerships with like-minded firms looking to participate in creating real financial inclusion for SMEs.”
Asked what sort of partners PSP is considering, Maren says large corporates that have environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and SME growth programmes with at least R 20 million in capital are a key group.
“We are also looking at banks that PSP can channel high-growth SMEs to once we have set them on the path to success. Importantly, high impact investors that understand how we create financial inclusion and believe an investment in us will meet their SME impact goals are ideal for business profitability for the SMEs and themselves.”
Alongside these potential investors, PSP will seek funders who want to provide the fintech firm with wholesale funding lines, as well as businesses, banks and other investors who will provide debt lines so ProfitShare Partners we can finance and assist more SMEs.
Maren says the time is also right for them to consider strategic equity partners as well.
Impact of PSP and potential partners
So far, PSP has impacted the SME space by noting the importance of the SME sector to local and global economies. Here, Maren cites the World Bank, which says that “SMEs account for the majority of businesses worldwide and are important contributors to job creation and global economic development. They represent about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. Formal SMEs contribute up to 40% of national income (GDP) in emerging economies”.
“By working to grow SMEs to large business status, we believe we have a formula to sustain business development by making it easy for start-ups and entrepreneurs to access capital,” Maren asserts.
When asked how PSP rocked the fintech space, he says the disruption began by creating a fintech company that doesn’t require lengthy banking history such as financials, credit score, security or even a track record.
“Our technology and processes used different methodologies to manage credit risk, and the process is simple and all online. By creating a fintech company, we were able to deal with SMEs with agility and provide for their needs rapidly.”
He adds that PSP is also now incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) to augment its Fintech process as well and is looking to develop the next wave of sustainable SMEs that become clients of the traditional banking sector. “As we build the clients of tomorrow for the banking sector and other traditional lenders, we open up doors for both the banks and investors,” says Maren.
“It’s a model that creates a win-win scenario for all, and the impact of successful SMEs on local and global economies is clear. Watch this space for SMEs and corporates working together to keep growing the little guys into big guys – and future investors.”
Andrew Maren
