London-based small business lender iwoca has secured a new £200 million debt facility via Barclays and Värde Partners. The move arrives following an extension of its existing funding line provided by neobank Bunq's sole external backer, Pollen Street Capital in January of this year from £125 million to £170 million. The SME lender now brings its total debt financing to over £850 million.
Offering SME’s loans by way of embedded services via neobanks and the like, iwoca also offers a B2B payment solution, and as one might expect, a revenue-based financing option.
Launched in 2012, iwoca cites £2.5 billion lent to SME’s across the UK and Germany in some 120,000 transactions and says it’s achieved net profitability for the fourth consecutive quarter as of this year. The company’s top-funded sectors include construction, retail, and manufacturing and food production.
Stepping in to bridge the SME funding gap, a situation that includes high street banks throttling back interest and appetite for providing small business loans, iwoca says it's on track to double the number of loans offered by year's end to that of 2021.
The company’s CEO and co-founder Christoph Rieche elaborates:
“We started iwoca after the financial crisis to offer SMEs the support that was so badly needed during uncertain times. Now, over 10 years later, we are fully tested and have proven that we can be there for SMEs when they need us the most.
“With this new funding, we’re in an even better position to help smaller businesses in the UK and Germany at a time of economic uncertainty. These SME businesses form the basis of a strong economy, and iwoca will lead from the front to help them thrive and achieve their goals.”
Lead image: Photo by Brooke Cagle
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