Welcome to the MarketInvoice February Newsletter.

Here at MarketInvoice we’ve had a very busy start to 2012 building on the success of last year and reflecting on our first 12 months of operations. Since launching a year ago, we now have over 60 signed up sellers, 30 professional and institutional buyers, and have channelled over £5 million through invoice auctions. The last month of January 2012 alone saw monthly trading volume of £1.2 million.

Trading highlights include:

• Signed up sellers have doubled in the period from October 2011 to January 2012 from 30 to now over 60. Our scalable buyers are deploying more capital as trading volumes increase from month to month
• Average advance rates are rising, with fees falling at the same time. In January 2012 the average fee (% of invoice buyer charges) was down to 1.10% versus a fee of 1.43% in October 2011 (representing a decrease of 23%)
• Over 70% of our sellers have auctioned invoices more than once. Interestingly the more auctions a seller completes, the more competitive its future auctions become, and the lower fees trend as buyers become more comfortable with the seller. We regularly see sellers benefiting as the cost of selling an invoice falls by 30-50% over the first 2-3 months of successful auction activity
• We still hold a 100% successful auction rate and have also seen the majority of auctions closing at the seller buy-now terms (which means that sellers are getting their preferred advance levels and fee rates). In fact in January 2012, over 80% of auctions closed at buy-now terms
• We are constantly improving our auction platform to make it more user-friendly and are building it around your business needs. We have just recently launched our automated online sign up process which makes it even easier for business to register and begin accessing capital in a time efficient simple manner

Awards and Press Coverage

Throughout the year we MarketInvoice has been regularly featured in the national and trade press with recent inclusions in The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Real Business, Yorkshire Post, Cambridge Evening News, BusinessZone, British SME, Financial-i, The Costco Connection, and Enterprise Funding. MarketInvoice Co-founder, Anil Stocker, was also selected as Small Businessman of the Week by The Independent on January 23rd. MarketInvoice ended 2011 by being voted one of the “Top 20 Start-ups of the Year” (2011) by leading SME commentator Startups.co.uk , and we were also recognised as one of the “Top 20 Start-ups To Watch in 2012” by Entrepreneurship website Your Hidden Potential.

Further highlights:

MarketInvoice moves into international invoice auctions as British exporters feel the pressure of tightening credit conditions

MarketInvoice is actively helping UK exporters achieve funding on their export invoice to the USA, Europe, Middle East and Far East. Trading companies based in Hong Kong that sell into large end corporate customers here in the UK are already using MarketInvoice to unlock capital to ensure funds for their supply chains. (See press release for more information). Please get in touch if know any companies who could benefit from our services with their exports.

MarketInvoice supporting the UK Department of Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) Alternative Finance Taskforce

In January, MarketInvoice submitted detailed feedback to BIS in response to their call for evidence for improving access to non-Bank funding products. The aim of this report is to examine the structural and behavioural barriers to the development of alternative financing markets in the UK, and to make recommendations to Government ahead of the Budget 2012. MarketInvoice also conducted surveys with sellers using the invoice auction platform to understand that barriers faced by business owners in embracing alternative finance sources. You’ll soon be able to read our proposals and recommendations via our blog pages in the coming weeks.

Upcoming Events:

Recruitment Agency Expo, 13th-15th February (Olympia, London)

The event is free for all to attend and MarketInvoice will be exhibiting at stand 112 so we look forward to your visit. We will be presenting a seminar in Theatre 1 on the Wednesday 15th February at 11:30 where we will discuss alternatives to traditional finance and hear the experience of signed-up seller Johnny Walker, Managing Director of recruitment firm Magnus Walker & Partners, and how he is using MarketInvoice to service his cash flow needs in the recruitment sector. Please register for the event.

The Launch of the Next Generation Finance Consortium “NGFC”, 8th March 2012, 9am (Cass Business School, Moorgate, London)

MarketInvoice together with Capital Enterprise, will be launching a new trade body called the Next Generation Finance Consortium. The NGFC was established so that a variety of organisations can come together as a movement and help growth focused entrepreneurs in London access non-bank funding. Our launch event will take place at Cass Business School on the 8th March 2012, and will attract high profile speakers. Further details to be announced shortly, but please save the date.

Featured Case Study: Centa Business Services

Centa Business Services is a not-for-profit business support agency based in Central London. It has over 27 years experience in providing advice and support to small businesses from securing finance, to mentoring, to training and practical help in running a business. As their works is paid for by the European Regional Development Fund, there is a long lag in receiving payment due to lengthy claims review processes. MarketInvoice was able to understand this complex contractual arrangement and Centa is now successfully using the platform to raise cash when it is most needed [Read full report here]