Fundbox, a California start-up business offering to advance small firms loans against their outstanding invoices, has received $17.5 million in a major funding round.

The business aims to provide a solution to the perennial small business gripe of late payment and says it can settle invoices within 24 hours.

High profile investors include Vikram Pandit, former CEO of Citigroup, Tom Glocer of Thomason Reuters and Jay Mandelbaum, former head of strategy at JP Morgan Chase.

A small business owner can plug into Fundbox using a range of accounting software including Quickbooks and Freshbooks.

Fundbox assesses the companies invoices and considers the risk involved automatically and instantly.

The user is then able to select which invoices to ‘clear’, using a slick online interface.

The service loans users the money, which is paid back plus fees when the invoice is cleared.