Interview with Ylva Oertengren

Ylva Oertengren is the COO and co-founder of Simply Asset Finance, a lender that provides SMEs with an alternative financial model to banks. Since being founded in 2017, Simply has become one of the UK’s fastest growing companies, and was named one of the UK Technology Fast 50’s Women in Leadership winners in 2022. One year on, Ylva spoke to us about her experience as a founder and what the past year has been like for Simply.

What led to you founding Simply Asset Finance?

I have worked in finance for almost 20 years across Europe and Asia Pacific, and moved to London 12 years ago. After a restructure, I found myself without a job. I was five months pregnant and didn’t know what to do.

Myself and my former CEO started seeking investment to start our own business and do it right, and we launched Simply about two months after my baby was born.

Having worked in large organisations, different settings, different geographies, different channels, different lines of finance, I had seen things that I thought worked and things that I thought didn't work, so it was really a dream come true to be given a blank sheet of paper and a good amount of money to spend to do it the way you want it to be done. We were able to attract some incredible talent and with that, we just took off. We’re now six years old and we’ve grown significantly.

Since you became a Fast 50 Women in Leadership winner in 2022, what have been some of Simply’s highlights?

It has been another year of significant growth. We’ve surpassed the milestone of £1 billion lent to SMEs. We’ve also recently surpassed the milestone of 150 employees. We’ve opened a new office. Our hub is in London, but we now have sales offices in Liverpool, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the past 12 months, we’ve entered into some exciting partnerships where we’re working as an embedded finance element, which also provides new growth. The sustained growth becomes much more challenging but more interesting as you get bigger.

Has your ambition for Simply changed over the last few years?

We always talk so conveniently about the fact that SMEs are the backbone of the economy, the job creators, et cetera, but I feel they’re rarely given the support they deserve. What we set out to do, which is really what I’m passionate about, is make a difference in how we empower entrepreneurs across the country to reach their potential and realise their dreams. We may be lending money, but the impact it has on a company looking to buy a new piece of machinery, maybe make an investment, maybe employ another person in the local community, that’s what really matters to us.

We always wanted to make sure we were giving SMEs access to finance on terms that work for them and at the place and time that works for them, and that ambition hasn't changed a bit. That was the intention from the beginning, but what has changed is where we want to take Simply. There's so much happening at the moment in terms of new technology and new ways of working. That’s what we're doing; continuously refreshing, renewing and adding new functionality. What we have today is way beyond what we thought we would need in the beginning, but our mission is still the same. Supporting SMEs and really giving them the service they deserve.

Have there been parts of your journey that have surprised you, either as a company or as a co-founder?

This might sound strange but one of the most surprising elements has been how easy it has been. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had challenges. Brexit, supply chain issues, pandemic, energy crises, war. I’m not saying it has been an easy ride, but if you do have the right mission, people, and technology, you can move fast.

Large, powerful organisations aren’t always best placed to move forward. Sometimes you have to be small and nimble like we are to keep that momentum going. That agility is something that we’re fighting to preserve.

That clean sheet of paper - having no legacy, having no data issues built in - means that whenever we start a new project, we start with a new project. We don't need to go back and clean things up, so that allows us to move quickly.

Another surprise is how much fun it has been, and how much I personally have enjoyed the broad role of a founder. Anything from plugging in cables to meeting with investors. Another thing that I’m never going to take for granted and that I’m really proud of and humbled by is the fact that we’ve had so many talented people come to join us and put their future within Simply. I’m always amazed by that.

What advice would you pass on to future founders?

I always try and encourage people who join our company, people from different backgrounds, to not try to fit in. I remember doing that when I started my career. When I was young and invited into board meetings, I noticed that not only was I the only woman, but I was also the only one who had milk in my coffee. I stopped having milk in my coffee because I wanted to stand out less.

I wish someone at the time had told me not to try and fit the mould and just be myself. A business really benefits from each individual’s talents, ideas and perspectives – and diverse talent will put that business in a better position to serve a diverse customer base.

If we encourage individuality, we will move forward as an industry. Don’t tone yourself down. Express your ideas. But this has to be engrained in the culture of a business. If you’re telling people to come in with ideas, you also need to be prepared to listen. I hope we’ve been able to stay true to that philosophy within Simply.

Looking ahead to next year, what’s on the roadmap?

We’re still really just scratching the surface. We’re busy looking at different ways of tackling that bigger opportunity.

As COO, I’m proud of the culture we’ve built within Simply, as well as the technology and the opportunities. I’m looking at how we utilise partnerships and allow other entities to tap into the great things we’ve done and take it to their customers.

Other than that, it’s just growth. Not just in numbers, but raising the bar in terms of the service we provide and the benefit that comes with being a Simply customer. We’re not looking to solve a one-off problem – we want to continuously support, encourage and empower our customers. We offer more than money.

If you’re a female CEO or founder of a UK-based technology company, your business may be eligible for the Technology Fast 50 Women in Leadership award. The Technology Fast 50 is a ranking of the country's 50 fastest-growing technology companies, based on percentage revenue growth over the last four years. The Women in Leadership category recognises those companies within the Technology Fast 50 that are either led by a female* CEO or have a founding team comprised of at least 50% women. You can apply for the Fast 50 on our website.

* The terms ‘women’ and ‘female’ are taken to include all those who self-identify as women or female and engage with their current employers as such.