How Adfin’s $18M Series A Is Turning AI Into an ‘Agentic Finance’ Engine for SME Cashflow

Late invoice payments are a persistent problem for small and medium‑sized businesses in the UK. Around 63% of SME invoices are paid late, tying up working capital and forcing companies to spend significant time chasing payments rather than running their business.

London-based fintech Adfin is trying to solve that problem with automation. In May 2026, the company raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from Visionaries Club and angel investors including former King COO Stéphane Kurgan and Miro founder Andrey Khusid. The round brings Adfin’s total funding to more than $30 million in under two years.

The new capital is being used to expand Adfin’s platform from a payments and revenue‑collection tool into what the company calls an “agentic finance” system—software that can actively manage money movement and accounts receivable workflows on behalf of finance teams.

What “Agentic Finance” Means in Practice

Adfin combines proprietary payment infrastructure with AI-driven automation to execute routine financial tasks automatically. Instead of software that only tracks invoices or sends reminders, the platform performs actions across the accounts receivable process.

Key automated workflows include:

• Invoice capture and payment requests
• Automated invoice chasing and reminders
• Payment collection via direct debit, card, and bank transfer
• Reconciliation of received payments
• Handling payment queries
• Applying late fees or setting up installment plans

These processes are typically handled manually by finance teams. Adfin’s system replaces much of that work with AI agents that monitor invoices and trigger the appropriate actions automatically.

The company’s long‑term goal is broader than invoicing. Adfin is building a platform that automates how businesses move money, get paid, and manage cashflow across their operations.

Tackling the Late-Payment Problem for SMEs

Late payments remain a major structural issue for smaller businesses. According to industry data cited around the funding round, millions of invoices are overdue across the UK SME economy, draining working capital and contributing to thousands of business closures each year.

Adfin’s approach is to automate the entire credit‑control workflow so invoices don’t sit idle waiting for human follow‑up.

Instead of relying on manual reminders or periodic checks, the platform continuously monitors invoice status and automatically triggers actions such as reminders, payment links, or alternative payment options. This persistent automation helps ensure that overdue invoices are chased consistently and immediately.

The company reports that customers using its platform experience late‑payment rates roughly seven times lower than the UK SME average, although this metric is self‑reported and not independently verified in the sources available.

Improving Efficiency for Finance Teams

Beyond accelerating payments, the automation layer also targets a common operational bottleneck: manual financial administration.

Finance teams often spend hours each week on repetitive tasks like matching payments to invoices, sending follow‑ups, and answering billing queries. Adfin’s agentic workflows perform much of this work automatically, allowing teams to focus more on analysis, planning, and forecasting instead of routine processing.

This shift can deliver three operational advantages:

1. Reduced manual workload
Automated agents handle invoice chasing, payment routing, and reconciliation tasks that previously required manual effort.

2. Greater transparency
The system centralizes invoice status, payment activity, and customer queries in a single workflow view, making it easier to track what has been paid and what remains outstanding.

3. Better cashflow visibility
Because payment activity and collection processes are tracked continuously, finance teams gain clearer signals about expected incoming cash and overdue receivables.

Preparing for International Expansion

Adfin plans to use its Series A funding to expand product capabilities, hire across engineering and sales teams, and prepare for international growth beyond the UK market.

The broader vision is to turn financial operations software from a passive reporting tool into an execution layer for business finance—systems that not only track problems like unpaid invoices but also act on them automatically.

If that approach proves effective at scale, it could reshape how smaller companies manage their finances, particularly in areas like accounts receivable where delays and manual processes still dominate many businesses.