Running a business
Inside our new reward platform for startup founders
- Running a business
- Article
- 4 minutes read
HSBC Innovation Banking clients can now access useful tools and services, for less. Here’s why we built a set of rewards and offers for our clients, from cloud credits to compliance and much more.
- We’ve curated dozens of offers and discounts from HSBC Innovation Banking’s partner network available for our clients, covering everything from software products through to accounting, go-to-market, travel, and wellbeing services.
- For early-stage founders, these rewards can accelerate your growth plans and help you find new specialised products and services, all while helping to conserve your spending. They could even represent a boost to cash runway as you plan for 2026 and beyond.
This is not exactly a secret, but there’s a reason why startup discounts are known as “hidden capital”. Some of the biggest providers of startup infrastructure – from cloud computing through to your commercial systems – offer significant discounts to early-stage companies. We’re here to help founders leverage the potential of these discounts in their planning.
At HSBC Innovation Banking we’re fortunate to enjoy strong relationships with many large and innovative tech companies in the UK, Europe and worldwide. So now, we’ve built and launched a bespoke rewards platform especially for our clients.
Discounts and rewards are so valuable for early-stage companies because each one is a potential extension to your liquidity. Let’s explore why they matter.
Rewards and discounts: a working capital win for founders
Rewards are a cheaper (or sometimes even free) way to access services you’d ordinarily spend your cash on. That translates to capital that’s unlocked for the non-negotiables: hiring, infrastructure, external advice, product development and growth.
It’s usually worth the time to think strategically about where your spending is likely to increase over the coming 6-12 months, and how discounts and rewards could help alleviate planned new expenditures. Certain costs, such as cloud computing, are increasing over time as companies compete for finite resource.
It’s also a matter of mindset. The startup founders and executives that proactively seek out relevant credits could save more than those who rely on luck and timing. The more working capital you unlock, the more you can deploy towards product-market fit. The same principle applies to the productivity and operations tools that are often startup essentials: discounted rates on spending you’d make anyway might turn into precious funds later down the line.
Focus is still important. Don’t be seduced into adopting a wide range of different tools you’d never ordinarily use as software bloat can slow you down. Optimise for the products that could genuinely save you money and extend your runway.
Let’s unpack the different platforms and tools that are available to HSBC Innovation Banking clients.
What’s in our rewards bundle
Here’s a select list of the rewards we’ve curated for our clients:
- Compute and cloud credits. They’re oxygen for scaling tech startups. We’ve brought together different cloud credit offers from cloud computing platforms, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to HSBC Innovation Banking clients.
- Operations, HR and productivity. You’ll find discounted consulting and advisory services, as well as lower-cost access to market-leading software.
- CRM and go-to-market. Founder offers include ad credits and huge discounts on some of the leading CRM software packages.
- Finance and accountancy. We offer our clients big discounts on some of the leading accounting, tax compliance and equity management software. But there’s much more too, such as free discovery calls and claim reviews with R&D tax credit specialists.
- Lifestyle and wellbeing. And we’ve even brought together offers for outside the office, from health and fertility services through to travel, food and beverage, and club memberships.
Final thoughts: discounts and rewards are an essential tool in the kit for startups
You do need to pick the rewards that are right for your business, but they do sit alongside grants, prize money and debt funding as a potential way to increase runway. In a cash-constrained context, that could be crucial.
Already a client? Log in to the portal now to see the whole set of rewards and offers.
Don’t see anything you need? Tell your relationship manager what you want and we’ll explore how to secure a reward for you.
Any opinions expressed are merely opinions and not facts. All information in this document is for general informational purposes and not to be construed as professional advice or to create a professional relationship and the information is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Nothing in this document takes into account your company’s individual circumstances. HSBC Innovation Banking does not make any representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness or completeness of this document and the material may not reflect the most current legal or regulatory developments. HSBC Innovation Banking disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the contents in this document to the fullest extent permitted by law. Nothing relating to this material should be construed as a solicitation or offer, or recommendation, to acquire or dispose of any investment or to engage in any other transaction.
