Previse

Previse is a financial technology company, founded in London in 2016 by Paul Christensen, Giulio Rossi, and Philipp Schoenbucher, that aims to accelerate business-to-business (B2B) commerce. The company developed an AI-driven platform that analyzes corporate trading data to predict the likelihood of an invoice being paid, allowing suppliers to receive payment almost instantly. This addresses the widespread issue of slow payments, where small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often wait 30 to 120 days for large corporate clients to settle invoices, creating significant cash flow challenges.

The core of Previse's service is its machine learning technology, which examines historical invoice data from a buyer's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to identify which invoices are safe to pay immediately. For suppliers, this means they can be paid within 24 hours. Buyers, in turn, maintain their standard payment schedules. The company’s solutions include 'SmartPay' for automated early payments, 'SmartAccept' for data-driven supplier onboarding, and 'SmartPlan' for forecasting and planning virtual card programs. Previse has partnered with major financial institutions and technology companies, including Mastercard, to embed its capabilities into B2B payment networks.

The founding team brought together expertise in finance and data science. CEO Paul Christensen previously served as Head of Strategic Investments at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. Co-founders Philipp Schoenbucher acts as Chief Data Scientist and Giulio Rossi as Head of Analytics. The company has raised a total of $46.6 million over seven funding rounds, with major investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Tencent, Augmentum Fintech, and Mastercard. Its latest funding was a Series B round in April 2022.

Keywords: B2B payments, invoice financing, supply chain finance, procure-to-pay, accounts payable automation, machine learning, financial data analysis, working capital, cash flow management, SME finance, embedded finance, virtual cards, trade finance, payment automation, fintech, supplier payments, early payment, invoice data, risk management, data analytics