Fintech business Elementaryb has launched sherloc, which is says is the world’s first ‘financial brain’ created specifically for SMEs.
sherloc is an AI-enabled software platform designed to deliver closer financial control and the forward-looking insights business owners need to anticipate risks, protect operations, and identify new growth opportunities.
The sherloc platform is onboarding 270 startups and scaleups with three accelerators, including FasterForward run by the Female Founder Network (FFinc) and the Frontier Programme by London Grow in partnership with Fidelity Centre for Applied Technology (FCAT).
According to the official figures from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the UK’s 5.5 million SMEs account for over 99% of all businesses, three-fifths of employment, and more than half of the turnover in the UK private sector. They are, without question, key to UK economic health and growth.
Yet, despite being the engine room of the economy, they are often the most exposed to economic shocks, supply chain disruptions, and cash flow pressures.
Historically, sophisticated financial forecasting has been the preserve of large corporations with dedicated in-house planning teams and costly analytics. Most SMEs, despite their importance to the UK economy, have been left to navigate volatility with tools that were designed for large corporations, with functionalities and price tags to match.
sherloc bridges this gap as it connects operational, budgetary, and financial data to provide seamless, affordable and accurate strategic forecasting. The platform uses AI-powered signals to alert leadership teams to financial risks, economic trends, and supply chain events in real-time, while also suggesting potential solutions.
Karen Rudich, CEO of Elementaryb, comments: “The launch of sherloc marks the start of an exciting new chapter. As an entrepreneur with experience building and scaling businesses, I know first-hand how much this vital part of the market needs better tools, designed specifically for them. SMEs deserve more than just a backwards glance at their finances; they need to see what’s coming around the corner. sherloc has been designed to offer them just that capability, as well as helping them to identify future opportunities for growth.
“We’re accelerating at full throttle and look forward to announcing more key strategic alliances, all designed to add value to SMEs as we build-out the UK’s first SME marketplace, which will be key to our ambitions to scale.”