It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That is pretty much how you could describe the environment for fintechs at the height of the pandemic. Some industries were booming while the world was reeling from the global pandemic. But in the fintech lending business, if you weren't involved in the PPP you were likely struggling. You would not think this was good timing to launch a working capital offering for small business.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Alek Koenig, the CEO and Co-Founder of Settle. They launched in the summer of 2020 with an accounts payable product paired with working capital. The business took off because they found an underserved niche in desperate need of capital: e-commerce businesses.

• The founding story of Settle.
• How they launched the company.
• Why launching at the height of the pandemic was fortuitous timing.
• How their core accounts payable software works.
• How the working capital offering integrates into this software.
• The maximum term they are financing today.
• How their underwriting process works.
• The range of interest rates they charge.
• How they are funding their working capital loans.
• What makes their AP software unique.
• Some of the brands they are working with today.
• How the movement towards embedded finance has made their life easier.
• How Alek's time at Affirm informs how he runs Settle today.
• How he built his Ukrainian team.
• The scale that Settle is at today.
• How they have navigated the downturn in fintech the last 12 to 18 months.
• His vision for Settle.

Connect with Alek on LinkedIn
Connect with Settle on LinkedIn

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes