Financing is a major hurdle for a lot of SMEs. In Europe alone, there are around 25 million SMEs and 70% of them rely on a bank for their external financing needs.

Creating a startup is always challenging. Founding one during a tech downturn, cost of living crisis and recession seems near impossible. However, with risk comes reward and many of the world’s most successful companies were founded during times of economic uncertainty. As part of a series with Antler, Maddyness has interviewed founders hoping to become the entrepreneurial success stories to emerge from this time of crisis. This week, Maddyness spoke to Joy Joseph Abisaab, the cofounder of Mast.