Fredericton’s Profitual is leveling the playing field for startups who “lack the financial expertise to navigate growth alone.” Its AI-powered fintech platform helps transform complex data into clear, actionable insights, allowing companies to make better decisions.
Drawing on his years as a CPA and time as Director of Investments with the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF), Co-Founder and CEO Ray Fitzpatrick recognized the need for a platform like Profitual.
“I noticed that with most of these startups we worked with, none of the founders came from a finance background. They were engineers, or experts in other fields, anything but finance,” says Fitzpatrick. “I struggled to help them find the level of financial expertise they needed. The challenge became creating a platform for the non-finance user, one that could build their first budget and forecast while building financial acumen along the way.”
Watch Fitzpatrick discuss the company’s origin and the important role that ONB has played in their growth journey.
AI-driven solutions
Fitzpatrick says AI is about enhancing the user experience. “We use AI to provide insights such as ‘here’s the average salary of this job title’ or ‘what was my net profit last quarter?’ We make it easier for founders to build. And then, every night, we’re able to sync with accounting platforms like QuickBooks to provide analysis.”
Unlike traditional tools that focus on complex tax rates or amortization schedules, Profitual’s AI-driven platform emphasizes the core drivers of business success. By allowing entrepreneurs to create budgets and forecasts in as little as 15 minutes, it removes the intimidation factor and time burden that often prevent good planning. “It’s user-friendly, accessible to non-CPAs, and encourages business owners to simply get started,” says Fitzpatrick. “Because having a plan makes them 60 per cent more likely to succeed and better equipped to adapt and grow over time.”
Marketing a world-class fintech solution
To market itself, the Profitual team got creative, launching its first No-Pitch Competition to showcase its platform’s capabilities to would-be clients. Rather than focus on flashy presentations, entrepreneurs submitted short applications and financial models, which were then evaluated by Profitual’s AI. All participants received feedback highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. This approach attracted over 4,000 users to Profitual’s website in a month (versus an average of 500), with 120 completed submissions, proving to be a successful way to engage potential customers. A second competition is expected to launch soon.
Fitzpatrick says next year’s launch of Profitual 2.0 will help the firm make finance approachable for entrepreneurs by focusing on what actually drives a business, and that’s not tax codes or spreadsheets. “Most small business owners avoid planning because it feels time-consuming or intimidating. With our platform, you can build a solid budget and forecast in 15 minutes. You don’t need to be a CPA; a simple plan today helps you make smarter decisions tomorrow.”
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Learn more at https://www.profitual.ai/.
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