Since 2000 Octopus Investments has been investing in people, ideas and industries that change the world. In 2019 they were considering an investment in Fiscal Technologies and engaged us to support with technology due diligence.

The Investee

Fiscal Technologies is a fintech B2B SaaS provider of forensic solutions to a wide range of industries including education, government, healthcare, manufacturing and retail in the UK, Europe and USA. It provides a forensic analysis solution for accounts payable to protect businesses from payment errors and fraudulent transactions by analysing 100% of their payment transactions prior to payment. This reduces financial risk, AP administration and recovery costs and ensures that maximum working capital remains available. Significantly, Fiscal Technologies customers can identify and recover cash from historic payment errors, returning funds back into the bottom line.

The company was established in Reading, United Kingdom, in 2003 and so far had grown without any outside investment. 

The Project

“At Octopus we see a lot of technology businesses. We have a good, high-level understanding of technology and what good looks like but we need you to take a really deep dive into technology.” says Edward Keelan, Investment Director in the Octopus Investments Development Capital team.

This was the ninth transaction we supported Octopus Investments with since 2014.

How we helped

“We work with you on a very regular basis and have a good, strong, trusting relationship,” continues Edward, “One of the major benefits from this is that you understand what we want and what we don’t want. We work together on each transaction to build a scope that fits our needs. There’s not a one size fits all approach. You work with us to build something that’s bespoke to every deal. This gives us flexibility and ensures each engagement is tailored to the needs of our investment.”

“Your report provides us with a number of things. It gives us a red flag check on the technology today and tells us whether the processes the company is using to build technology are good. It also tells us whether the company's technology is fit for the future and whether the platform itself is scalable to achieve the forecasts the business is aiming for.”

“We spend quite a lot of time thinking about how companies can scale. Thinking about how the company will be able to reach their growth goals and whether they have the technology, staffing, processes etc to achieve this. Working with you we can test our assumptions and ensure that we don’t overlook potential pitfalls.”

“Your report brought us clarity over the quality of Fiscal Technologies’ software and the future roadmap for the company. It also helped highlight areas for improvement post investment. The areas for improvement are not a core part of why we got you involved but it’s very helpful. With Fiscal Technologies there were very few areas for improvement identified but on other deals we’ve done with you we have had quite a lot. That ranking of priorities is really helpful.”

Future Plans

Octopus Investments invested in Fiscal Technologies in November 2019. Now the aim is to grow the company’s direct presence in both the UK and USA, as well as expanding the channel engagement across Europe.