How the Innovate Finance Unicorn Council is Powering the Future of Embedded Finance

Jakob Pethick shares how being part of Innovate Finance’s Unicorn Council has reinforced YouLend’s commitment to delivering embedded financing solutions. He reveals the steps YouLend is taking to expand and meet the needs of small businesses, as well as valuable lessons for entrepreneurs on building scalable solutions.

Joining Innovate Finance’s Unicorn Council is a major milestone. How has being part of this elite group influenced your strategic direction?
As an embedded finance provider, YouLend is built around successful partnerships, so joining a group of like-minded companies committed to collaborating and driving the industry forward is definitely a milestone for us. However, becoming a member has not in any way changed our strategic direction or motivation. Our mission remains the same: enabling technology and payment companies to provide sustainable financing solutions to small businesses, who in turn can operate more efficiently, create jobs, and contribute to economic independence. Ultimately, our success is still measured by one thing—whether small businesses are truly benefitting from our products.

Being part of the Unicorn Council signals YouLend’s significant growth potential. What key steps do you expect YouLend to take to deliver on this growth potential, and what lessons can other entrepreneurs take away from your journey?
It’s been fantastic to see such strong demand for YouLend’s embedded financing solution in the market. We’re still only in the early stages of meeting that demand. The World Bank has reported a $6 trillion financing gap globally and 50% of SMEs in the UK say that accessing finance has become more difficult over the past three years. When we speak with our partners – such as Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Etsy, and SumUp – they all share a strong desire to better support their business users’ ambitions.

To meet this growing demand, we have been investing—and continue to invest—in our technology stack to ensure it is best-in-class across Europe, the UK, and the US. Because many of our partners are global or operate across multiple markets, we have built a platform that ensures true product parity across regions. If I could offer any advice for other entrepreneurs, it would be to stay focused on what your customers are asking for. If you focus too much on building an ideal version of a company and less on what your end-customers actually need, you’ll get distracted.

What do you believe separates those who achieve unicorn status from those who don’t, and how are you positioning YouLend for that next leap?
Unicorns have huge ambitions. They want to solve some of the largest problems today and do so in a scalable way. What often separates unicorns from the other companies is their ability to execute well on this ambition. At YouLend, we have always worked towards becoming a global one-stop shop for embedded finance. So right from the start, we knew we had to attract top-tier talent and solve problems in a scalable way through our technology platform.

Everyone has an “aha” moment. Was there a specific time at YouLend when you thought, “We’ve really made it,” and how did it change your outlook?
Two “aha” moments stand out. The first was during COVID. As countries went into lockdown, we saw a huge spike in demand from partners who wanted to support their business users with financing to ensure they could continue to stay afloat during closure or cope with increased demand—whichever they experienced in their sector. YouLend was able to support businesses much faster than governments were able to stand up guaranteed financing programmes, and it was powerful to see the YouLend team making a difference to tens of thousands of small businesses when they needed it the most. The second moment was less dramatic: when we launched our first transatlantic partnership in multiple markets across USA, UK and Europe at once, proving that our solution was built for scale. This validated the success of our ‘one-stop’ global solution.

Running a company can be overwhelming. How do you unwind and stay motivated when things get tough?
The key for me is to build a strong team and a positive culture that keeps me energized, even during challenging periods. When you trust your team and have a shared sense of purpose, the tough times become easier to manage. Outside of work, I prioritize maintaining a healthy mind and body — for me, that’s through regular exercise—biking, weightlifting, tennis—and good sleep. These routines help me reset, unwind and return focused.

Given YouLend’s growing presence in the UK fintech space, how do you see your influence on the UK’s fintech ecosystem?
YouLend has always been about partnerships with fintech, tech and traditional financial services companies. The UK was our first key market, so we have had the pleasure of collaborating with many other industry players to help UK small businesses access the funding they need to grow and thrive. We see significant value in developing partnerships across the industry and try to contribute to the industry by sharing our learnings about when partnerships work and when they don’t work.

Today, YouLend has funded small businesses more than 250,000 times globally and sets the industry standard for inclusive finance. Our data has revealed that YouLend’s decision-making models are 2x more effective than traditional providers in providing access to capital to female-led and financially-disadvantaged businesses. On a broader scale, YouLend maintains an industry-leading 90% approval rate for applicants across all our core markets.