Arcinova seeks to continue impressive phase of growth with help of SFS

Arcinova, a contract research and development organisation providing a range of services to the pharmaceutical industry, is benefitting from invoice finance from Siemens Finance Services (SFS). Arcinova’s services include drug product manufacture and analysis, testing and bioanalysis to understand a drug’s impact.

The company has enjoyed impressive growth since its inception in February 2016, with turnover and staff numbers growing year on year. Arcinova decided to use invoice finance to access extra funding for the business.

By using invoice finance, when a company such as Arcinova invoices its customer, up to 90% of the approved invoice total is immediately advanced by the finance provider. The remaining 10% is paid once its customer settles the balance. This provides the company with essential working capital so it can benefit from improved cash flow without having to wait for bills to be settled.

Paul Ryan, Finance Director at Arcinova explains: “As our growth accelerated we needed to free up money to invest in technology and staff. Invoice finance seemed like the most logical solution to achieve this.”

SFS was selected after a review of a number of invoice finance providers.

Paul explains: “We knew of Siemens by reputation and were aware they had experience in the healthcare sector. This helped them to understand our company and offering. We’re not selling products but services; SFS accounted for that and tailored the invoice discounting arrangement accordingly.

“We were delighted that a long-established financier like Siemens was keen to work with a new business like ours. They recognised that although the company is relatively young, we’re growing rapidly and have an impressive customer base.”

The invoice discounting facility has now been in place for several months and is running smoothly. Arcinova benefits from SFS’ intuitive invoice discounting system that offers real-time information to give an accurate view of the account and drawdown of funds within a matter of hours. Additionally, a dedicated account team is on hand to answer any queries swiftly and accurately.

Paul summarises: “It’s important we seize this opportunity for growth by investing appropriately. Invoice finance from SFS is helping our company go from strength to strength.”

Pulin Trivedi from SFS, who is the dedicated invoice finance account lead for Arcinova, adds: “Every business is different and it’s not sufficient to apply a ‘one size fits all’ approach to invoice finance. Arcinova, for example, operates in a hugely regulated industry, so we needed to familiarise ourselves with the audit trails required and adjust our processes accordingly.

“We’re excited to support Arcinova in the next stage of its growth journey.”