Former freelancer Oona Rokyta, the CEO and Co-Founder of Lance Bank, has created an automatic bank … [+] The traditional workforce is changing. Today there are over 60 million freelancers in the US. COVID-19 further accelerated this shift as many full-time employees were laid-off or actively started looking for side hustles to support themselves. Anyone who is currently in this stressful situation and is trying to manage their finances knows how challenging it is all year long. It’s a constant guessing game trying to plan and withhold the right amounts so you don’t come up short during tax season. Enter Oona Rokyta. A former freelancer, Rokyta co-founded Lance Bank in 2018 based on the familiar pain points freelancers and side hustlers experience when managing their finances. Rokyta shared that when she “was a freelancer, I dug into my finances with an accountant, Quickbooks and other tools but found there was nothing really guiding my approach or telling me how I should organize my finances.” Rokyta realized it was time for a new model. Created as the first smart business banking account for the self-employed, Lance’s unique business bank account and success model automatically allocates a custom personal salary, tax withholding, business expenses, and savings amounts from incoming deposits for individual businesses. With basic bookkeeping, entry level accounting and tax payments done, freelancers get what they need to grow compliant and successful businesses. Even with the help of an accountant, for solopreneurs and freelancers, it can be a struggle … [+] The backstory is worth noting. Lance was built by a team of former freelancers based on the insight that the current marketplace is still struggling to help solopreneurs manage everyday cash flow and income documentation across multiple income streams. The solution evolved into the creation of a bank account to automatically identify deductibles and manage tax withholdings, set aside savings, and pay a monthly salary – all responsive to a freelancer’s typically volatile monthly income. Participating in the $2.8MM funding round were Barclays, BDMI, Great Oaks Capital, Imagination Capital, Techstars, DFJ Frontier, along with other fintech and creative industry angel investors with the funds intended for further product development and marketing. To refine the idea and the product, the team had to do a significant amount of research over the past year including speaking with thousands of self-employed individuals. They discovered that even the most savvy solopreneurs were paying monthly surcharges for standard business banking accounts and sometimes multiple accounting software solutions. Despite their efforts to educate themselves and organize their finances, these business owners and freelancers were still having to spend too many resources on solutions and still weren’t able to surface their 2019 income or easily fill out Schedule C forms for tax filings and loan offerings. Rokyta explained how it was “time to recreate banking solutions that are mindful of different people’s financial goals. Lance’s approach brings banking and accounting together in one business account because that’s what solopreneurs need today. They’re already juggling multiple income […]
