SuperFi, a debt prevention platform, has announced a €900k pre-seed funding round to support people during the cost of living crisis. The round was led by UK seed fund Ascension and its impact fund, Fair By Design, and includes Force Over Mass, and a number of other prominent investors.
Founded in 2021, the London-based fintech startup is revolutionising debt management by providing users with an overview of their debts, analysing their financial and personal circumstances, and then giving users access to the most suitable debt prevention tools and services.
The funding will be used to support authorisation via the FCA’s innovation sandbox and launch partnerships with London boroughs. These initiatives will allow SuperFi to test and refine the platform; bringing debt prevention tools to Londoners for the first time, before it is rolled out across the UK.
Tom Barltrop, co-founder of SuperFi, said, “We believe that debt management should be proactive, not reactive. Our goal is to help millions of people struggling to pay their bills and credit commitments better manage their debt before it becomes a crisis. In doing so, we believe we can help British people during the cost of living crisis – saving businesses and society billions associated with problem debt.”
To understand the scale of the UK’s debt management challenge, 18 million British adults are struggling to pay their monthly bills and credit commitments, according to research from StepChange. These individuals aren’t yet in arrears, so they are not eligible for formal debt solutions. Collectively, they hold more than £70bn in unsecured debts.
SuperFi’s platform, which helps users stay on top of their monthly bills and credit commitments and out of problem debt, has the potential to save users £130m in debt repayment costs by 2028. The company has also received grant funding from the Greater London Authority as part of the Mayor of London’s Challenge LDN scheme to combat poverty. The funding allows SuperFi to prototype and test its platform with Councils and Housing Associations across London.
Emma Steele, Partner at Ascension, added, “We are thrilled to be supporting SuperFi in its mission to tackle the UK’s growing debt crisis and improve financial well-being for individuals and communities. With over £1.6 trillion in personal debt in the UK alone, the scale of the problem is massive, and SuperFi’s innovative platform is uniquely positioned to address it through a partner based business model that remains on the consumers’ side as the business scales. We look forward to helping the team achieve their vision.”
The founders of SuperFi, met during an Antler residency in London, and bring together a wealth of expertise from banking and tech startup environments. CEO Tom Barltrop specialises in delivering rapid growth for startups. He was an early employee at Groupon UK and recently achieved triple digit growth as Head of UK for European healthtech startup, Zava.
CTO Nick Spiller has consulted for numerous high-growth fintechs and held key roles at Natwest and Xapo with a focus on building products for the financially vulnerable.
SuperFi’s pre-seed funding round was facilitated by Floww, a newly launched fundraising platform, where it surpassed its funding goal in just over 24 hours. SuperFi is the first startup to manage its fundraise on the platform.
SuperFi has also previously received backing from Antler, the most active early-stage investor in Europe.
Ollie Purdue, Partner at Antler, commented, “SuperFi represents a new generation of fintech startups building solutions designed to address the significant challenges facing consumers during the cost of living crisis. SuperFi will undoubtedly have a positive impact on society in the UK. We are delighted to have backed the SuperFi team from day zero and this funding round is testament to their impressive traction and long-term growth potential.”
