he news of Azlo closing down has been hard for all of us. At Novo, we are stepping up to support small businesses. We are here to help as the best alternative to Azlo for small businesses.
Novo and Azlo go ‘way back’ (by FinTech industry standards anyway) to a time before either of us even had our first customers. We first met Azlo’s founding team in 2017 while we were finishing up an accelerator program in Sunnyvale (and also living out of a garage). We’ll never forget how excited we were while on our way to BBVA’s corporate office in SF that morning. BBVA was the gold-standard in FinTech, and we were just a bootstrapped startup at the time, so the fact that they even acknowledged our existence - was huge. It was a humbling experience that poured jet fuel on the fire already burning internally.
FinTech is an interestingly complex beast that has traditionally been tied down by corporate bureaucracy, politics, and regulation to name just a few. We saw Azlo as an ally helping us push boundaries towards a common goal. They pushed the industry to be better and challenged us along the way. For that, we will be forever grateful. Novo and Azlo were founded on similar principles: striving to make business banking better, leveling the playing field, and creating a superior experience for small business owners everywhere. Tyler framed it well when he shared, “It’s been a pleasure to compete with someone so aligned with our purpose.”*
The Novo team has been working around the clock to welcome Azlo customers with open arms. We strive to be a great fit for most small business owners and are adding extra customer support to help transition customers over as easily as possible. We understand it’s probably the last thing any business wanted to start their year off with.
In the face of Azlo’s shut down, Novo will step up and face the challenge to make up for the loss of such a formidable player in the industry. We've already started to build products that Azlo customers know and love, like Novo Reserves and Invoicing. But we won’t be able to do it by ourselves. This is an opportunity for the industry to come closer together in support of small business owners.
To all of the Azlo customers searching for a new business bank, we are here to help. To all of the other challengers in the space, we see you and look forward to pushing boundaries with you in 2021 and beyond.
Onwards and Upwards, Michael & Tyler, Founders @ Novo
