Founder Friday is a content series from SuperAngel.Fund that highlights companies across our portfolio and the inspiring founders behind them.
In our 45th edition we are featuring Zaid Rahman, Founder & CEO of Flex, a finance super app for small businesses that combines the entire finance stack into a single platform offering credit, banking, payments, and insurance products.
Zaid Rahman is a serial entrepreneur and Thiel Fellow, a program designed for talented youth that skip or drop out of college to receive grants and support from the a network of founders, investors, and scientists. Zaid’s prior company, Volley, was backed by JPMorgan and Mark Zuckerberg whose goal was to teach computers how to understand knowledge with AI - similar to ChatGPT - just a bit early!
Growing up Zaid’s father ran a construction company in Dubai where he saw first hand the pain points that small and medium-sized business owners (SMBs) felt when trying to manage cash flow. His father suffered a heart attack when a customer refused to pay a multimillion-dollar invoice. Together with co-founder Hadi Solh, the pair set out to solve this problem so that other SMBs would have easier access to capital and reduce cash flow problems.
While Fintechs startups receive enormous sums of venture capital, and with more companies formed in this sector than most in the past decade, it turns out that finance is still a mess for most SMBs, as the focus has been to serve larger corporations. That is especially true in certain underserved, non-digital industries such as construction, logistics, farming, and professional services, which, include upwards of 20 million business owners. As many of us experienced in the recent banking crisis, traditional banks typically deprioritize small business owners to focus on clients with significantly larger assets or transaction volume. Yet, the number of SMBs has accelerated as evidenced by the rise of new business applications.
Enter Flex, which consolidates the entire finance stack into a single platform. Their core products are a business credit card which provides 0% interest for 60 days on every purchase, and an FDIC insured banking suite with high-yield checking, savings and treasury management. Customers pay no account maintenance or late fees.
Flex is the first finance super app enabling business owners to manage their entire financial lives from one platform 💳.
Since launching in 2022, Flex has grown to serve more than 500 customers. Based on this success they recently secured a $120 million Series A financing(!) including debt and equity, led by Florida Funders with participation from other strategic investors including Home Depot Ventures. Of course, SuperAngel.Fund is proud of have backed Zaid and his team twice over recent years. You can apply for a Flex card here and let me know how it works out for you!
Describe your company in 5 words or less?
Zaid: Finance Super App for Businesses.
What was your primary motivation for starting your business?
Zaid: Helping entrepreneurs achieve the American dream.
What piece of advice would you give an entrepreneur starting a business today?
Zaid: Work hard, think big, never give up.
What do you love to do in your free time?
Zaid: Play padel :)
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited recently and why?
Zaid: Colombia -- amazing dev talent there + also great nature.
What is your favorite app or tool in your work life and in your personal life?
Zaid: VAs for research, emails, etc. Game changer.
What do you believe is the most important skill or attribute of a successful founder?
Zaid: Persistence
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