Fintech Company Hero Raises 11.3M to Become a Reference for VSEs and SMEs

Founded in 2021 by Roland Jais-Nielsen, Hero’s mission is to change the financial landscape of VSEs and SMEs across Europe. “Our mission is to democratize short-term financing for SMEs and VSEs, in particular by providing assistance with payment deadlines, which constitute a major issue for them,” said Roland Jais-Nielsen, CEO and founder of HERO .

Two years after an initial fundraising of 12.4 million euros, Hero has recently completed a funding round of 11.3 million euros in equity from the American investment fund Valar Ventures and its historic investor, the Berlin fund SquareOne. “We fell in love professionally with Valar Ventures, which has already contributed to the success of some of the most successful European fintechs, such as N26 or Wise ,” shared Roland Jais-Nielsen.

More than 10,000 VSEs and SMEs already supported by Hero

“Hero is the tool I would have dreamed of having in my hands as an entrepreneur,” answered Roland Jais-Nielsen when asked about his startup. The entrepreneur who launched his very first company, Merci Handy , in 2014, was himself able to confront the cash flow problems of small businesses.

Indeed, traditional banks can have difficulty adapting to the needs of new entrepreneurs and digital VSE-SMEs for multiple reasons: minimum size required, unsuitable processes and tools, or simply risk aversion. “In particular, we bring a lot of value to companies in their growth phase. Often, they would like to quickly reinvest their profits into their growth, but first they have to wait for their own customers to pay them. We allow them to do it directly ,” emphasizes Roland Jais-Nielsen.

Hero’s solution is embodied in its “Core Banking System”, a one-stop shop that merges cash flow integration tools and omnichannel payment methods into a single digital platform. “We have developed a new generation technological player, 100% digital, leader in terms of speed of granting financing and which offers the latest advances in payment ,” declares Roland Jais-Nielsen.

At the moment, more than 10,000 VSEs and SMEs have already benefited from Hero’s services, which indicates having carried out more than 150 million credit grants over the last 18 months. With this fundraising, HERO wishes to continue to invest in its products. “The short-term idea is to control the value chain, from opening a payment account to granting credit, as efficiently as possible,” commented Roland Jais-Nielsen. In the longer term, the entrepreneur plans to further enrich its range of products and expand into the main European markets.

The young company is paid on financing with pricing starting from 1.5% per month. Ultimately, it also plans to be paid via interchange with a premium corporate card that it plans to launch in partnership with Visa, subject to obtaining approval.

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(Featured image by Mufid Majnun via Unsplash)

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First published in Maddyness. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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