Success Story
Edge Growth
South Africa
Initially, Edge Growth decided to outsource loan management in order to save on people-managed costs. However, this experience quickly revealed the limitations of not having full control over their data and processes.
“We’ve got all kinds of different instruments across the spectrum. Working with Hypercore, we were able to start to customize the way that we managed these different types of investments.” - Rich Chapman, COO at Edge Growth
The entire Edge Growth team now spends less time correcting manual work and more time with their portfolio companies. They’ve seen faster processing times and improved cost efficiencies across the business - not to mention happier employees and clients.
Edge Growth is an impact-focused small business development company in South Africa focused on providing access to funding, skills and market for SMEs. They specialize in investment funding for early-stage businesses showing high growth potential that support positive social, environmental and economic change. With 5 funds under management and over R2bn in assets, the organization believes that investing in an inclusive and sustainable future means backing ground-breaking businesses with revolutionary ideas that can transform our world for the better.
Edge Growth's story begins with a dilemma that many growing non-bank lenders can relate to - the burden of manual processes. As they scaled their operations, they encountered several key challenges:
Initially, Edge Growth decided to outsource loan management in order to save on people-management costs. However, this experience quickly revealed the limitations of not having full control over their data and processes.
"We saw that there was very strategic core data flowing through this value chain from start to finish. And by outsourcing a key component, you lose the proprietary nature of some very valuable information, and you are removed from the ownership and control of that information."
Laurie Maroun, from Digital at Edge Growth
As Edge Growth explored their options to bring their data back in-house, they realized their needs went beyond a typical loan management system. They needed a platform that could accommodate their unique investment strategies, spanning seven funds and 100 ventures, involving a mix of equity, debt, and hybrid instruments.
The need for customization was paramount, and Hypercore presented a solution that aligned perfectly with their requirements.
"We look to customize the nature of the investment to best serve the growth needs of the businesses we're partnering with. And [that means] we have many assets underlying these funds running in parallel with amortization schedules, and complex financial instruments. So we need to have a sophisticated technology platform to support us to scale."
Rich Chapman, COO at Edge Growth
Hypercore allowed them the flexibility to customize their operations to meet their unique needs.
"Our investments are fairly bespoke. We're not a pure VC equity investor, where everything is just a vanilla equity term sheet. And we're not a micro SME debt provider. We've got all kinds of different instruments across the spectrum. Working with Hypercore, we were able to start to customize the way that we managed these different types of investments."
Rich Chapman, COO at Edge Growth
Even implementing Hypercore helped the team identify ways to scale their processes and make everyone’s work more efficient. They found new ways to cut back on manual work by transitioning key processes like creating equity models into Hypercore from Excel spreadsheets. Helping the Edge Growth team adopt Hypercore became easy thanks to its intuitive, easy-to-use interface.
Now, Edge Growth manages its investments end-to-end on one platform. From automatically creating amortization schedules with accurate forecasting, to quickly and seamlessly generating financial statements, to developing equity models, it’s all done on Hypercore. The entire Edge Growth team now spends less time correcting manual work and more time with their portfolio companies. They’ve seen faster processing times and improved cost efficiencies across the business—not to mention happier employees and clients.
With Hypercore, Edge Growth can now better manage their own data, and therefore better understand and grow their business. They've gained more in-depth insights and deeper control over their business, which, in turn, has resulted in improved processes and enhanced collections. Their funds are performing better, and their impact-driven investments continue to make a difference in the world.
“With Hypercore, I feel confident the information I’m sending to our SMEs is correct."
Laurie Maroun, from Digital at Edge Growth
Edge Growth's journey to scalability is a testament to the transformative power of embracing automation, customization, and the strategic decision to keep critical data management functions in-house. It's a story that exemplifies how non-bank lenders can scale their operations efficiently and maintain their commitment to impact-driven investments on their path to becoming industry leaders, simply by having more ownership and control of their data.
