Unlike stocks, it is difficult for retail investors to enter the bond market。Bonds are usually denominated in $100,000, pounds sterling or euros, and bond issuers have traditionally been dominated by institutional investors, rarely promoting new issues to the general public。

WiseAlpha wants to change that, democratizing bond investing through the use of partial ownership。

How much money is WiseAlpha raising？

WiseAlpha was founded seven years ago and has raised just over £1m from investors, and as of press time, they are approaching that goal.。

The company recently signed a joint venture agreement with Titan Wealth and said it was integrating some of its bond trading platform into a bank that has more than 1 million customers.。

Like many other fintech companies, WiseAlpha doesn't make money。

According to its founder and executive director Rezaah Ahmad, the company lost £2 million in 2021 and will lose another £1.1 million in 2022.。Management believes its losses will continue to fall as WiseAlpha reaches critical mass。

As it turns out, a deal with the as-yet-unnamed bank would be a stepping stone to that end, provided the project hits WiseAlpha's forecast of 10% penetration.。

However, size is increasingly important to fintech companies, and without the necessary growth, venture capitalists seem very reluctant to invest more money in the industry。

How much money has WiseAlpha raised in the past？

Prior to the latest funding round, WiseAlpha had raised £8.2m through a mix of crowdfunding and seed capital.。Previously, the company had used the crowdfunding market to raise £3.1m in August 2020 and £2.8m in 2018.。

On this basis, it seems we can assume that the company consumes around £1m of cash a year, raising doubts as to whether the current million-pound financing will be enough to tide the company over so much that a proof-of-concept deal with a large institution might attract interest from venture capital。

Part of the problem for fintech companies is how to get their stories heard with so many competing voices。This may be one of the reasons why WiseAlpha has turned to the B2B space to work with institutions with a large customer base.。

WiseAlpha is optimistic about the future of the B2B space, Rezeeh Amad said: "As long as we have more opportunities to work together, we will continue to invest in our employees to increase revenue.。He added: "I hope that after 12 months, we can decide whether to focus on profitability or invest further in growth.。"

However, joint ventures, especially those involving technology consolidation, rarely run as planned, and long delays could cause huge losses to Wise Alpha's business.。