Muse Finance

Muse Finance is a London-headquartered financial services provider for small, medium and growing businesses. Its core products are invoice finance and supply finance, delivered through an app that also offers cash flow visibility and invoice management. With invoice financing, customers can release cash against outstanding customer invoices — in some cases within 24 hours — with Muse collecting the invoice amount from the debtor on the due date. A combined supply and invoice finance product allows businesses to pay overseas suppliers while unlocking cash tied up in pending invoices.

The platform gives business owners up to a 90-day cash flow snapshot alongside access to funding, positioning itself as faster than traditional lenders for companies that may not meet the affordability checks or minimum turnover thresholds required for conventional business loans. Secondary market data describes the company as an AI-powered platform spanning invoice finance, trade finance and working capital solutions, with verticals including lending and credit, credit scoring and platform-as-a-service.

The company is based in Victoria, London, and reported 17 employees in mid-2022. Ann Marie Juliano is founder and CEO.

Founding story

Founder and CEO Ann Marie Juliano spent nearly 20 years at investment firms including Fortress, Moody's and Credit Suisse. On starting her own business she encountered poor access to funds and limited cash flow visibility relative to the service levels available to larger institutions, and concluded other small business owners faced the same gap. She launched Muse in 2018 to design financial products specifically for small business owners, citing an approximate £56bn funding gap for UK smaller businesses.

Business model

B2B financial services: Muse advances funds to SME customers against outstanding invoices and supplier payments, funded through debt facilities raised from institutional lenders, and collects invoice amounts from debtors at maturity. Secondary market data characterises the revenue mix as including payment processing fees, subscription SaaS and services/consulting.

Financing fees associated with invoice and supply finance, alongside payment processing fees, subscription software and services revenue per secondary market data.

Traction

As of August 2022 Muse reported over 5,000 UK customers and financing supplied for more than 36,000 invoices, with total funding access of over $96m. The company reported a surge in demand from small businesses emerging from the pandemic.

Latest developments

In August 2022 Muse announced a $20m extension of its debt facility to support UK small businesses and signalled an upcoming Series A round planned for early 2023, alongside plans to extend its invoice and supply financing to US-based companies.