Revving, a fintech that plans to transform digital media payments, has announced a £107 million investment to help them fuel growth in the £129 billion UK adtech sector. Led by DWS, one of the world’s largest asset management, the investment includes £100 million of debt funding which will go directly to support businesses.
By helping businesses better manage their cashflow, preventing closures and supporting growth, some estimates suggest the investment will underpin a further £8.9 billion in growth. TFN asked the co-founders, CEO Chris Pettit and COO David Mandeno, about their plans and what Revving means to the adtech industry.
Why adtech needs a new solution for invoice cashflow
Pettit and Mandeno, a lawyer and engineer by career, met while they both worked in media, and they both found that cashflow was a major problem. Despite strong revenues, cashflow constraints held many strong companies back, and some simply could not manage. Last year, more than 50,000 UK businesses went under because of late payments.
“The problem in adtech is particularly acute,” Pettit explained. “SME digital businesses are often in a David-and-Goliath scenario: stuck in the middle waiting to be paid on ever longer payment terms from some of the largest advertisers and brands in the world, while having to pay the companies like Google and Meta on ever tighter terms.” The effect could mean that SMEs are sometimes forced to pay for their clients’ work months before seeing any cash themselves.
This is despite the importance of digital advertising to the UK economy, which generates £129 billion a year, it supports 2 million jobs. But when many are dealing with payment terms of up to 120 days, growth and innovation are difficult.
Unfortunately, traditional factoring — in which finance is offered against outstanding invoices — wasn’t working for the sector. “Existing factoring solutions weren’t designed for a world where end-of-month invoicing is secondary to the millions of microtransactions, occurring all the time,” Mandeno said. “That’s why Revving was built specifically for digital businesses, with a technology-first approach that leverages the real-time availability of granular data to unlock funding instantly.”
An £8.6B boost for the UK economy
The investment will help to unlock cash for the sector. Revving expects to provide up to £1.8 billion in funding to UK digital businesses over the next three years. IAB, digital advertising’s industry body, suggests such investment has a multiplier effect of around 4.8x, meaning Revving’s finance could boost the UK economy by as much as £8.6 billion.
However, Revving’s attractions for businesses may be more practical. Moving away from the invoice-based traditions of factoring, Revving is designed for a data-rich, fast-moving industry.
“Revving integrates directly with digital platforms and marketplaces, automating the entire funding process,” Pettit told us. “Many of our customers had never considered factoring before because it simply didn’t fit their business model. But Revving is different: it’s built for the way digital businesses operate today.”
The approach unlocks more flexibility. Based on transaction data, it allows funding to be unlocked earlier, before an invoice is even issued. And it builds in flexibility, businesses can access finance on-demand, and because it’s based on their actual activity data, they can avoid restrictive conditions and hidden fees.
The integration also helps business planning. Using the data to provide insight into supplier credits and risk, and payment performance, Revving’s clients can expect to see their financial planning improve, as well as their finances.
The combination made Revving an attractive investment for DWS. Their Head of Capital Solutions, Vlado Spasov said, “Revving’s focus on high-tech digital ecosystems and robust growth trajectory aligns perfectly with our commitment to backing transformative financial solutions in the UK.”
Built to scale to help businesses throughout the world
Pettit and Mandeno expect Revving to have a significant impact on the UK adtech sector.
“When businesses can reinvest revenue immediately, they can scale faster, experiment more, and drive better returns,” said Mandeno. “By solving the cash flow problem at scale, we level the playing field and keep UK businesses competitive on a global stage,” he added.
Their clients already attest to the difference the fintech has made for them. Warwick Lambert, CEO of Genie Shopping, said, “our partnership has achieved record-breaking results. Being able to access our commissions quicker has allowed us to reinvest back into campaigns, driving better results for our advertisers and partners.”
Revving is currently focused on the UK market, and will use the investment to consolidate its rapidly growing position. However, UK-based adtech may want to take advantage quickly. “Our model is inherently scalable because digital transactions are borderless, and our platform can integrate with global marketplaces and payment systems,” Pettit told us. “The UK is our home and initial focus, but the demand for faster payments in digital sectors is a global challenge. We’re already seeing significant inbound interest from businesses in the EU and US that face similar issues.”
