Louise Stewart, CEO and Founder, ProjectPay
Today we're meeting Louise Stewart, CEO and Founder at ProjectPay. They specialise in providing digital payment systems for the construction industry to make payments simple, fast and guaranteed.
Over to you Louise - my questions are in bold:
Who are you and what's your background?
I am a former technology executive having worked for publicly listed technology companies in my corporate career, before leaving the corporate sector to set-up my first tech start-up. This tech platform, which automated health service bookings and payments, connected to the Australian government's central Medicare system to bulk bill health services delivered in thousands of pharmacies and was sold to one of Canada's largest companies. I had planned to retire at this stage but came across a shocking problem with payments in the building and construction sector whilst serving as the Chair of a Subcontractors Association in Australia. I have since worked with governments in Australia, the UK and the US to fix slow payments in the construction sector which was resulting in an insolvency crisis for small construction firms worldwide. My ambition is to protect businesses from slow payments and losses from the insolvency of contractors above them in the supply chain. Insolvency impacts on small businesses when the contractor above becomes insolvent and has not paid them for the work they have done and they suffer huge losses. I have built a technology solution, ProjectPay, to address payments and cashflow challenges in the building sector globally.
What is your job title and what are your general responsibilities?
I am the founder and CEO of a start-up business that means I do a bit of everything. My day is made up of supporting my teams in various regions, talking to governments and users whilst ensuring we deliver the best and most easy to use platform. My current focus is ensuring that product development is progressing as required to continue to solidify our first-to-market advantage in solving the trillion-dollar problem in construction payments.
Can you give us an overview of your business?
We solve the biggest problem in the building and construction sector, getting paid. ProjectPay revolutionises construction payments, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by addressing issues like late payments and cashflow problems to protect against potential insolvency. ProjectPay's digital platform ensures faster, more transparent payments, benefiting the entire construction ecosystem by guaranteeing payments whilst streamlining construction payment requests and the approval process.
Tell us how you are funded?
The business has been bootstrapped and supported by government grants to date. We are now taking on external investment, given the platform is being used on several government projects and by many contractors. Our current priority is demonstrating the market fit and how valuable the business will quickly become.
What's the origin story? Why did you start the company? To solve what problems?
My husband was a subcontractor and did not get paid on several government jobs when the builders he was working for went broke. He asked for my help and I discovered an industry plagued with high rates of business insolvency, manual and disconnected processes and small businesses expected to fund the delivery of projects. Small businesses are forced to take on unacceptable risks with long delays in getting paid. Because of this, I invented a way to use technology that benefits all stakeholders by eliminating these risks and provides the cashflow to ensure fast and guaranteed payments, so that everyone in the supply chain can win.
Who are your target customers? What's your revenue model?
Building contractors are our users. They register to use the platform which ensures timely payment on projects. They love the benefits of using ProjectPay, knowing they never have to waste time chasing a payment again as the platform pays them as soon as work is completed.
We've had great feedback from users who no longer need to battle to get paid with assurances they will still get paid on time for the work they have done, even if the main contractor collapses.
Main contractors also really like that the platform automates their subcontractor application along with approval and payment process, providing the necessary working capital to pay subcontractors immediately.
Late payments are a major factor in the insolvency of construction companies, especially SMEs. Asset owners, like governments, recognise the importance of a healthy construction sector for overall economic growth. By addressing payment issues and improving cashflow, ProjectPay can contribute to a more stable and productive industry.
Feedback from users has been positive with examples of users that include:
"I've had battles with not getting paid and it's good to have ProjectPay to guarantee I get paid."
"It was important to gain assurance that ProjectPay was being used to manage payments on the government project. We wanted to make sure we would get timely payments and would still get paid if the main contractor collapsed."
Innovate UK (which has provided funding in the form of a government grant):
"The proposal effectively addresses the unique challenges of the construction industry with an innovative digital payments solution, demonstrating a clear commitment to improving financial services for underserved SMEs in this sector.
Additionally, the post-project plan and collaborations with major banks make it a strong candidate for further UK government funding consideration, providing significant value to taxpayers regarding its wide variety of benefits and socio-economic impacts".
If you had a magic wand, what one thing would you change in the banking and/or FinTech sector?
When it comes to the construction sector outdated banking and finance models don't work, yet there is real resistance to understanding industry specific models that address the problem. My biggest challenge is the unconscious bias as a woman working in finance and construction and having to work harder and smarter to be taken seriously.
What is your message for the larger players in the Financial Services marketplace?
If you keep doing the same things you will get the same outcome. Banks and financial services companies need to accept that if they are going to effectively deal with the very high risk of funding and supporting businesses in the building and construction sector, given very high rates of business collapse – they need to do things differently. ProjectPay is providing banks with the opportunity to capture this huge market by doing things differently.
Where do you get your Financial Services/FinTech industry news from?
I keep my ear to the ground and get my news from various sources including trade media, contacts, meetups, newsletters and the mainstream press. I am very time poor so whatever pops into my radar!
Can you list some people you rate from the FinTech and/or Financial Services sector that we should be following on LinkedIn, and why?
My friend Catriona MeHarry is an inspiration in breaking down barriers for women in banking and finance and has just taken on the head of treasury role for Lloyds Bank.
There are a number of women in the USA that are groundbreaking. Women in the US seem to be doing so much better than women elsewhere. I love how ballsy and direct they are in the USA.
What FinTech services (and/or apps) do you personally use?
My major focus at the moment is on ProjectPay, but I love what Wise has done to help people get paid easily in other currencies.
Finally, let's talk about predictions. What trends do you think are going to define the next few years in the FinTech sector?
It's all about sector specific fintech solutions that help businesses operate without friction. To request payment and be paid with payment transactions, also known as embedded finance, gives small businesses the immediate access they need to vital working capital. This is not easily done in the building and construction sector without the risk of huge losses to finance providers due to the very high rates of business insolvency. That's why we are unique, using our tech to eliminate any risk of losses from slow payments or insolvency.
Thank you very much, Louise!
Read more about Louise on LinkedIn and find out more about ProjectPay at https://projectpay.co.uk/.