Startup of the Day: Finmap, Ukraine’s SaaS solution developer

Finmap was founded by Ivan Kaunov and Oleksandr Solovei in 2019 and joined by Dmytro Dubilet at the beginning of 2021. Finmap is a simple and convenient cash flow management service for modern businesses, with accessible functionality and a user-friendly interface. It synchronizes with user accounts via API, allows business owners to set up a payment schedule, makes it possible to delegate the data entry process, and provides in-depth, easy-to-understand analysis of all financial transactions.

Finmap integrates with over 2800 European banks, as well as services like PayPal, Wise, Revolut, ApiXDrive, Fondy, and also allows managing the crypto portfolio. To date, the startup recently has raised €1 million in investment led by Polish-American venture fund SMOK Ventures. 

In the Startup of the Day column co-founders of Finmap Oleksandr Solovei, Ivan Kaunov, and Dmytro Dubilet share more details about the startup’s idea, its product, and future plans.

“The Startup of the Day column on AIN.Capital is dedicated to tech projects from all sectors that originated from the CEE countries. If you would like to introduce your project, please fill in the questionnaire.”

Tell us about your startup. How does it work?

Finmap’s main product is a cloud solution for browsers and iOS app that helps business owners with easy and convenient financial management – both corporate and private. Business owners get real-time visibility on what’s going on in their business in terms of money, avoid cash gaps and make the right decisions. It has integrations with over 2800 European banks, as well as services like PayPal, Wise, Revolut, ApiXDrive, Fondy, etc; it also allows you to manage your crypto portfolio. For Ukrainian users, there are integrations with PrivatBank, monobank, and PUMB. In the near future, it’s planned to add the invoicing feature.

How did you come up with the startup’s idea? What was the reason/motivation behind it?

The initiators and founders of Finmap are entrepreneurs Ivan Kaunov and Oleksandr Solovei. Ivan used to work in the field of business process automation, so he knew exactly what the market was lacking. The business partners wanted to create something valuable and truly useful for entrepreneurs. A tool that would take into account the “pains” that entrepreneurs face when accounting for money, and would help them manage their business finances simply and conveniently. This is how Finmap was born in 2019.

How long did it take to reach the prototype or MVP? What did you encounter?

From the idea to the first prototype was about 2–3 months. The main goal was to show it as soon as possible for the market and receive feedback.

When exactly did you launch your product? Or when the launch is planned?

Finmap was first launched in 2019. In July 2021, an updated Finmap product was released, which is completely different from the previous version. This is the version of the service that was relaunched together with Dmytro Dubilet. As a result, the updated version rewrote the logic to work within the product, simplified the interface, and added many new features, such as integrations with banks, payment systems, etc.

Tell us about the startup’s business model. How do you monetize your product?

Finmap is a SaaS solution. Access to the tool is provided to users on a subscription basis. Subscriptions for small and medium-sized businesses start at $25 per month.

What are your target markets and consumers?

The main users of Finmap are small and medium-sized business owners from various industries. These include marketing and digital agencies, small IT companies, architectural firms, construction companies, small manufacturing companies, HoReCa, etc.

If the startup has already launched the product, what are the results: metrics, income, or any clear indicators that can be evaluated?

Finmap is used by entrepreneurs in 50+ countries. In 2022 Finmap doubles the number of our users. Now, over 2500 businesses are using Finmap for daily financial management. In the past year, the number of foreign customers has tripled – from 11% to 36%. Ukrainian entrepreneurs still make up the majority of customers – 64%.

What about your team? How many people are working in the startup? If you’re looking for new employees, indicate whom exactly.

Finmap’s team works entirely remotely and counts 59 specialists. Over 80% of them remain in Ukraine. Finmap has current job openings: https://finmap.online/vacancy/

For example, the team is looking for financial specialists and a head of financial services. Also planning to expand the team in the marketing area.

Have you already raised any investments? Provide us with more details on each funding round: the amount, investors, and the purpose of the investment.

In 2023, Finmap closed a new investment round and raised €1 million from European investors. The funding will be used for marketing and localization of the service in the countries of expansion – Poland and Turkey, strengthening its presence in English and Spanish-speaking countries, and expanding the team.

The lead investor is SMOK Ventures, a US-Polish venture capital fund. Paul Bragiel, co-founder and GP of the fund, has invested in more than 400 companies in his professional career, including such unicorns as UBER, Stripe, Niantic, Unity, and Zappos. This is the fund’s first investment in a Ukrainian project.

The Czech investment fund Presto Ventures, a lead investor in the previous round, Slovenian investment company Capital Genetics, and tbi bank CEO Petar Baron also joined the investment. Finmap attracted its first investment in 2020 in the form of a government grant. Based on the results of the fourth PitchDay, the Ukrainian Startup Fund (USF) invested $50 thousand in the project.

Also in 2021, the company raised $1.2 million from European investors. Presto Ventures, Sturgeon Capital, SID Venture Partners, startup incubator Startup Wise Guys, as well as the investment companies BRISE Capital and TBI Bank CEO Peter Baron, all took part in the round.

What’s next? Tell us about your future plans.

One of the main focuses of Finmap’s development is to increase its presence in the countries of expansion. Currently, these are Poland and Turkey. We also plan to strengthen our presence in English- and Spanish-speaking countries.

Certainly, we have identified areas where we can expand, such as invoicing tools, which are already supported by the deployed beta version. We see that there is a huge demand for such tools even today in different European countries, including Poland. The next aspect is our freshly deployed application. Earlier, we only had the web version of our platform, but right now we are actively designing Finmap’s iOS application, which will be followed by the Android version as well. Such steps also partially open the market for personal finances to us, rather than just business finances.