Rethinking SME Finance with Dr. Serge Santos, Founder & CEO of Funding Alternative Group
Season 4, Episode 12, Dec 04, 04:52 PM
Share
Subscribe
In this episode of Tech Can’t Save Us, Paul speaks with Dr. Serge Santos, founder and CEO of Funding Alternative Group
This week on Tech Can’t Save Us, host Paul David is joined by Dr. Serge Santos, entrepreneur, investor, and award-winning leader known as The Business Physicist. After deploying over $1 billion in capital during his investment banking and hedge fund career and achieving a multi-million-dollar exit with his previous company, Serge is now tackling one of the UK’s most persistent economic challenges: SME access to finance.
Through Funding Alternative Group, Serge and his team are reimagining how small businesses secure funding when traditional banks say no. Since 2022, the platform has deployed £8M in SME loans and £18M in invoice finance, offering fast, flexible, and human-centred lending for businesses often shut out of conventional systems. Serge explains how open banking allows Funding Alternative to assess risk using real-time data rather than outdated statements, enabling decisions in hours instead of weeks when clients face challenges.
The conversation explores the company’s biggest growth opportunities, the complexities of raising institutional capital responsibly, and how Serge applies his “business physicist” mindset to simplify complexity through rational, systems-based thinking. He also shares why culture is his “ultimate multiplier of success,” and why discipline, transparency, and trust sit at the heart of every funding decision.
Find more about Funding Alternative here: https://fundingalternative.co.uk
Follow Dr. Serge Santos here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/santosserge/
Through Funding Alternative Group, Serge and his team are reimagining how small businesses secure funding when traditional banks say no. Since 2022, the platform has deployed £8M in SME loans and £18M in invoice finance, offering fast, flexible, and human-centred lending for businesses often shut out of conventional systems. Serge explains how open banking allows Funding Alternative to assess risk using real-time data rather than outdated statements, enabling decisions in hours instead of weeks when clients face challenges.
The conversation explores the company’s biggest growth opportunities, the complexities of raising institutional capital responsibly, and how Serge applies his “business physicist” mindset to simplify complexity through rational, systems-based thinking. He also shares why culture is his “ultimate multiplier of success,” and why discipline, transparency, and trust sit at the heart of every funding decision.
Find more about Funding Alternative here: https://fundingalternative.co.uk
Follow Dr. Serge Santos here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/santosserge/