Company: wamo
Founder: Yanki Onen
Website: https://wamo.io/
About wamo
wamo is a digital business account provider and growth partner for SMEs. Founded in 2018, wamo exists to break down the barriers to doing business for SMEs, who are overlooked in a challenging macro-economic climate. Aspiring entrepreneurs often struggle when opening a business account in the UK or EU, but wamo’s solution enables them to open an account in 24 hours with no hidden fees.
The idea came from CEO and founder Yanki Onen, who built the business after his first-hand frustration in setting up a business bank account. The banking system works against SMEs as they’re subject to lengthy registration processes and endless paperwork requirements. SME banking has also become distant, as the banks move away from human-led support to unhelpful chatbots. wamo was launched to solve these problems.
wamo behaves differently to digital business banks by guaranteeing its customers don’t speak to a chatbot, but a real human that understands their needs. More than just a business bank account, wamo aims to take away the obstacles in the way of turning an idea into a business. Wamo’s Company Formation solution enables customers to register as a UK or EU business in 20 minutes and link it to their wamo business account in 48 hours. It’s also building an unrivalled marketplace, wamo Connect, which connects SMEs to exclusive products and services – from domain hosts, marketing agencies, and accountancy platforms – with discounted rates to give them everything they need to thrive. wamo customers have the opportunity to provide their services to other customers to help grow their own business.
wamo’s growth has been exponential since its launch, having processed €1.1bn in transactions and supporting 7,500 customers in the UK. In the first five months of 2023, the company has already exceeded the total volume of card transactions that it did in the entirety of 2022 by 10%, as its growth continues at pace.
wamo has plans to expand its product offering to include credit solutions for SMEs, as well as to gain its EMI licence and expand into new geographies. In the future it also is on the road towards its Series A investment round to aid its continuing growth. The company has raised $3million in seed funding from investors so far and its future funding round will ensure it can continue to serve the underserved SME market.
