Startup investment trends have been anything but static in recent years, moving from the frantic activity and high valuations seen in 2020-21, to the five-year low that we closed 2023 with.
What’s more, economies in general have been under immense pressure with rising inflation and costs leaving both businesses and consumers feeling the pinch. As a result, there is an increasingly high demand for alternative lending options coming from startups and small businesses that need to finance business growth.
Thankfully the global fintech lending market – expected to reach $23,110 billion by 2032 – is helping to come up with creative solutions borne from the real-world needs of users.
Gulp Data is one of the companies driving this change with a solution that promises to unlock mainstream access to data-backed loans.
Making data valuations fast and affordable
Gulp Data was founded in 2021 by an experienced group of technologists and investors with a shared belief in the value of data as a balance sheet asset.
Most often, startups and SME’s are likely to have a number of datasets that hold significant value. However, these are very often omitted from company valuations and its true revenue potential isn’t being fully leveraged.
This is because data is classed as an intangible asset. To use it as an asset for the books or as collateral companies need to go through a lengthy and costly data valuation process that is out of reach for the majority of small businesses.
This is why Gulp Data and its founders want to spearhead new industry standards in finance that automatically class Data as an Asset™ to ensure this most valuable resource can be used to improve the financial health and performance of small businesses.
Said Lauren Cascio, Founding Partner of Gulp Data, “Our unique proposition is that companies can leverage a new asset that they can’t reach with any other type of commercial loan: that’s data, and we allow them to use that asset to capture capital.”
A novel algorithm for data-backed loans
Founders have been struggling to access private capital in recent years. Many turn to short-term loans during the interim but soaring interest rates with legacy banks make this even more unsustainable. With Gulp Data’s offering, small businesses can use their data to underwrite non-dilutive loans with favorable rates.
When applying for a data-backed loan with Gulp Data the total value of each client’s dataset is calculated using its patented machine-learning technology. The algorithm relies on techniques used in intangible asset transactions, such as cost analysis or revenue analysis and utilizes data from various sources and thousands of datasets to calculate the market value of these assets.
This means data valuations are calculated in real-time to ensure that companies can underwrite the true amount as collateral for their non-dilutive loan. Data security is a priority, and Gulp Data complies with the highest global standards.
Gulp Data not only provides startups with rapid data valuation services but, as of 2023, the fintech is also able to underwrite data-backed loans directly. Gulp Data has completed over 800 data valuations and its clients and partners include Fortune 100 companies and global consulting firms.