Bankruptcies, reconstructions and the threat of store deaths - now the new fintech company wants to take Swedish retail into the future - Wellstreet Ventures invests 8 million
Historically, the risk of selling goods to stores lies in the stability or instability of its financial structure. Most solutions are based on the supplier sending goods and issuing an invoice that must often be paid within 30 or 60 days, which means a risk exposure for the supplier and a stress factor for the retailer. While stores struggle with inventory, liquidity and bankruptcy risk, suppliers lack control over what happens to products once they are delivered. But that belongs to the past. The fintech company Future of Retail wants to solve the connections between suppliers and resellers with a transparent, safe and secure platform.
Future of Retail has built a digitized trading platform that dismantles the walls between suppliers and retailers in order to call for closer collaborations for a brighter and stronger future. The supplier owns all or parts of the warehouse, relieving the dealer of that burden in the cooperation. The established agreement package, which has been exclusively developed by the law firm Setterwalls, always ensures a safe outcome, even if insolvency should arise.
Behind the company is the founder Ola Levin, who comes most recently from the financial group Alektum Group. His vision is to remedy the industry's outdated working methods in a few years' time and to succeed in redefining the relationship between supplier and reseller.
Many stores and chains in the retail trade have ample opportunities to become healthier and more prosperous companies if they succeed in reducing the financial tensions that arise around the large purchases of inventories. At the same time, many suppliers struggle with the uncertainty of sending goods to their retailers, especially in these uncertain times, says Ola Levin, founder and CEO of Future of Retail.
The consignment product is equipped with a fail-safe agreement, handles payments and divides the value of the product sold in the store. Consequently, retailers achieve a smoother cash flow, better liquidity, wider in-store variation, less capital tied up, increased sales, and an increase in margins when obsolescence decreases.
We have selected the very best from the consignment warehouse concept but built a digital commerce platform and a payment system, which together with a developed agreement package creates a unique service in the market today. By working with our system, we create improved liquidity, smoother cash flow and increased sales on all levels because we enable commerce with a broader assortment and collection in a unique, safe and secure way for all involved parties, says Ola Levin.
The Fintech company is part of the accelerator program Fintech Loft, which is run by Wellstreet in partnership with the cloud giant AWS. Wellstreet Ventures Fund I has invested SEK 8 million in the company's development phase.
Future of Retail creates the trade of the future and synchronizes all elements in the supplier and retail chain for the best service to the end customer. That is actually why we see it as a brilliant solution. When the end customer has better experiences, suppliers and resellers sell more, says Armando Coppola, Head of Fintech at Wellstreet.
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