Our mindset is what distinguishes us from our competition. We are always business-oriented, we think lean, we do not overspend, and we try to anticipate every situation that comes our way in the most logical way.

First of all, we would like to thank Toms Jurjevs, Founder and CEO of Sun Finance, a financial technology company headquartered in Latvia, for agreeing to respond to our questions.

1) Our first question is about Sun Finance and the story behind it. Please tell our readers how it started and how it has evolved into the second fastest-growing company in Europe?

Sun Finance is a Latvia-based financial technology company that runs an online and mobile lending platform. I have been working in this industry for as long as 12 years, so I have acquired quite substantial experience. Before setting up Sun Finance, I worked for another industry player, yet a time came when I felt an urge to start something of my own. I wanted to build a user-friendly online lending platform that would be competitive on a global scale. Once the decision was made, I embarked on the project wholeheartedly.

My ambition was to pull together a range of professionals possessing a diverse skill set to unlock the full potential of Latvian entrepreneurship. First, I got in touch with my coursemate Emils Latkovskis, inviting him to come onboard. We built our team by approaching the people that we believed in and had seen their potential in other projects. In fact, I’m certain that our experienced yet young, capable, and driven team has been key to Sun Finance’s success.

First, in 2017, we launched our operations in Latvia as we knew the market really well, yet right from the beginning, our goal was to expand internationally. We built our platform with a key focus on technology and user experience. Soon after inception, we launched our operations in Denmark, followed by Poland, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and Vietnam. Our newest market is Sweden. That’s how a partnership of two evolved into the second fastest-growing company in Europe.

2) Your website states that Sun Finance’s vision is to become an accessible and attractive one-stop-shop for consumer financing needs. What about start-ups and small businesses? How can they benefit from your platform?

Our primary focus is the B2C segment, we do not provide B2B financing. However, we see that in countries like Kazakhstan and Vietnam our services are extensively used by sole traders, who use the money to finance their day-to-day business needs. In Vietnam, for example, a large part of our clients use our services to finance the purchase of raw materials to, say, run their street-food stalls. In Mexico, pretty much like elsewhere in the world, people spend loads of time on their mobile phones. Therefore, a product aimed at mobile phone users has a good potential to acquire a small business loan. We continue to monitor market trends for B2B products. Who knows, probably one day we will enter into B2B segment as well. But currently, that is not our focus.

3) Sun Finance has expanded its operations outside Latvia in 6 other countries in a relatively short period of time. What is the company’s competitive advantage over other fintechs?

Since we are a fintech, technology plays a crucial role and it is our technological solutions that give us a competitive edge. All our software is developed in-house and uses the latest technology. It is designed to be super scalable and super adaptable to different geographies, and products on our platform. And, with every new launch, the technology advances further.

Secondly, we use top-notch in-house built risk and data science tools. Each new market means a new culture with particular consumer behavior, which is why data science is a crucial part of our business. We have developed complex risk assessment models that take into account consumer behavior and other local characteristics.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, having the right people in the team also gives us a competitive advantage. We have the best team at our HQs in Riga, as well as we always invest heavily in finding the right people locally who run our business there and understand the local mentality.

Finally, our mindset is what distinguishes us from our competition. We are always business-oriented, we think lean, we do not overspend, and we try to anticipate every situation that comes our way in the most logical way.

4) We know that you are a key player in Latvia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In your opinion, what is the outlook for entrepreneurship in Latvia?

I like to think of Latvia as an agile, competitive European country. We are an EU, NATO, and OECD member state. The start-up ecosystem is getting stronger year after year. We have professionals here in Riga, who are capable of creating companies and providing services that are competitive on a global scale. Thus, Latvia has the potential to become a leading player in the fintech segment as well as other tech segments in Europe together with our Baltic neighbors, especially Estonia. We do hope that with our story we will inspire young Latvian entrepreneurs to develop successful businesses and penetrate the global marketplace.

5) Please tell our readers about your future plans. What’s next for Sun Finance? Are you planning to expand into new geographies and customer segments?

Sun Finance will hold its course. We have established our position in the market, yet, in the long run, our ambition is to become the largest online lending platform globally. We will continue to expand geographically by penetrating new markets. We will also work towards expanding our range of products in the existing markets. We refer to this as our matrix growth strategy—we expand both geographically and product-wise.

I believe that the world’s leading companies have to be role models for others. Therefore, the larger Sun Finance becomes, the greater our responsibility towards society and our planet. Since the beginning, we have actively engaged in animal protection. Last year, we extended our support to a number of climate initiatives that help reduce the company’s carbon footprint, regenerate nature, and promote sustainable entrepreneurship. This year, we became a Green Office through participation in the WWF Green Office program and we also became a carbon-neutral company. We will continue to support the initiatives that meet best the ESG principles, engage in animal protection and environmental protection projects.

6) What would be your advice for entrepreneurs who seek funding for their business?

Be persistent. Do not take “no” for an answer. But most importantly keep your focus on the business. Prove that it is worth investing in. It goes against the latest trends in the world, where being profitable is not sexy anymore, but I am old-school, and I think companies should make a profit. So work towards profitability so that the company can sustain itself rather than just grow at all costs and be loss-making for a number of years. Aiming for profitability and being cost-efficient, you are on a much stronger footing when trying to attract funding. Otherwise, you are just a ticking time-bomb burning cash on its way. And if you don’t raise additional funds, you may easily drop out of the game for good.

Finally, of course, look for investors who share your vision. It is important to have synergy and think alike when deciding on future growth and course of action. Otherwise, you will waste a lot of time and energy in conflicts, and that is definitely not worth the effort.

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Toms Jurjevs, CEO of Sun FinanceToms Jurjevs

Founder and CEO

Sun Finance