Fundbox, the financial platform for small businesses, revealed on Tuesday (June 22, 2021) that they’ve appointed Hilliard Terry to their Board of Directors.
As mentioned in a note shared with CI, Mr. Terry is an experienced executive leader, corporate board member and advisor to private equity backed portfolio firms.
The announcement also mentioned that Mr. Terry presently serves on the board of directors of Umpqua Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: UMPQ), a financial services firm.
Terry also serves on the board of directors at Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST), an AI-powered consumer lending platform, and on the board of TLG Acquisition One Corporation (NYSE: TLGA-UN), a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC.
Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox, stated:
“Hilliard is an accomplished public company CFO and a seasoned board member with an impressive record of achievement at the intersection of technology, finance, and banking. We are thrilled to benefit from his operating and board experience in this time of opportunity and growth post-COVID.”
Recently, Terry acted as an advisor to private firms and previously as EVP and CFO of Textainer (NYSE: TGH). Prior to working at Textainer, Mr. Terry was VP and Treasurer at Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A), and was also working as the Head of Investor Relations during their IPO and “subsequent spin-off from Hewlett-Packard.”
The update also mentioned that prior to joining Agilent, Terry worked in marketing and investor relations for HP’s VeriFone subsidiary. During his extensive career, he has also held key positions in investor relations and investment banking with Kenetech Corporation and Goldman, Sachs & Co., respectively.
Terry is a “qualified financial expert with operating experience and in-depth knowledge of accounting, treasury, investor relations, financial planning & analysis, risk management and corporate development,” the announcement noted.
Terry remarked:
“Through their AI-powered platform, Fundbox is providing access to credit for a much broader community of small businesses, a sector that has been underserved in the past. This is critically important and fundamentally different from anything that has ever been done before. There is a massive market opportunity ahead and I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and diving into areas like governance and compliance, which are critical fields of investment for a company at this stage.”
The firm is set to experience considerable growth as the SME economy begins to recover and expands post-COVID. Research has revealed that US residents launched numerous businesses last year. There was nearly a 25% increase from the year prior in new American business, and “the first time in history that new businesses have increased during a recession.”
Fundbox offers access to financial tools that allow SMEs to cover business-critical operating expenses. The Fintech firm’s AI tech “enabled the company to scale quickly through automation while increasing access to capital through superior predictions and credit decisions.”
Fundbox’s process is “fully automated, and 99% of their decisions are made without human intervention.”