Fintech Startup Symend Raises Seed Round to Improve Debt Collection Process

Symend has raised a seed round. The Canadian financial technology startup secured $1 million from angel investors to create a less costly and more efficient process for effectively collecting delinquent debt.

The aim of Symend, a software-as-a-service platform,  is to positively impact the debt collection industry and help both retailers and consumers. Founders Hanif Joshaghani and Tiffany Kaminsky say they will use the initial seed funding to build out a prototype, which will use a combination of automation, predictive analytics, and better positive collection tactics to help their pilot customers.

“Our company has a launch valuation of $2.5 million, a great starting point for our investors who we want to thank for helping us kick-off,” said Joshaghani, CEO.

The current debt collection system using collection agencies, who take between up to 50% of overall money recovered, is broken and has an annual success rate of only 7%. Over the last five years in the US alone delinquent debt has risen from $150 billion to over $600 billion.

“The collection process is broken because companies do not take a customer centric view to the problem,” says James Lochrie, founder of Wave Accounting and a Symend advisor. “There is potential for dramatic improvement by focusing on customer experience and retention while also engaging in the challenging task of collecting overdue funds.”

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