Melbourne fintech Thrives, a banking, accounting, tax and lending platform for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), is putting together a customer advisory board (CAB) and plans to pay the people taking part in company shares in return for a 12-month commitment.
CEO Michael Nuciforo said they looking for a range of business owners, who’ll meet monthly and help shape Thrive’s product roadmap, marketing strategy and customer service plans, adding that he wants to ensure customers remain front of mind.
“We are the first fintech that we are aware of that has implemented something like this,” he said.
“Nothing is more important to us than our customers, so setting up a Customer Advisory Board that represented the interest of members was the best way for us to hold ourselves accountable to our mission.”
Thrive’s core product uses artificial intelligence to help automate a range of financial tasks, and is aimed and SME owners who spend more than six hours a week on financial admin. Nuciforo calls it “a CFO in your pocket”.
Co-founder and COO, Ben Winford said Thrive’s mission was to streamline back office procedures.
“Good financial management is the most important aspect to running a successful business, but most business owners don’t have the skill or the will to be a CFO. Thrive takes away this headache for business owners by automating banking, accounting, tax and lending,” he said.
The Thrive team of 12 spent more than a year building the tech on sweat equity before they turned to crowdfunding in February and smashed records when they raised $3 million in just 3 days from 547 investors.
The money banked, they’d now looking for business owners to join the CAB, with Winford once again expecting strong interest.
“We expect to get many applications and we can’t wait to select our CAB Members and get this started,” he said.
Applications close midnight on Friday, April 30.
Applications details are here.
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