I stumbled across this report at TechCrunch about inDinero in a C round where it hopes to raise $1 million. That’s pretty good for a new vendor in the apps space but reflects the interest in SaaS/cloud apps that are aimed at the very small business (VSB.) Founder Jessica Mah traces here entrepreneurship back 7 years to age 13. No – that’s not a typo or a joke. This is one seriously smart person.
If you know anything about Mint then inDinero’s idea will sound familiar. Here’s the pitch:
Unlike accounting software, we’re tailored to the small business owner. Imagine your financial counselor telling you exactly what you need to know, and without the use of complicated accounting vocabularly.
I can see a lot of very small businesses using a tool like this as a complement to whatever they use for book-keeping or billing. In the video, Jessica explains that it can be used in conjunction with book-keepers (also virtual assistants?) to help you manage and categorize spend. They already have FreshBooks integration plus links to more than 10,000 US financial institutions. They have ‘several thousand’ users.
Right now this is US only but I cannot imagine it will be too long before inDinero takes a sniff at other markets. My only caveat is pricing which is on a per transaction basis. The app is free for VSBs with less than 50 transactions per month but then jumps to $29.95 per month for up to 500 transactions. I am betting the company will change this model once it starts to add features. In fact it will be essential. What happens for example if you trip over the 50 transactions threshold in one month? Are you upgraded or is there some leeway?
Regardless, this is a shot across the bows of every SaaS/cloud vendor looking to cash in on the VSB market and especially those that make a virtue of auto uploading of bank information. It’s not accounting as you know it but is a step in the right direction for solving cash flow issues. And as we know, cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. This is definitely one to watch.
