FinTech business lender MarketFinance has raised £280 million debt and equity funding.
The London firm, which revealed it has been profitable in the first half of 2021, has also been accredited as a lender under the Recovery Loan Scheme.
Launched by the British Business Bank in April 2021, the Recovery Loan Scheme supports access to finance for UK businesses as they recover and grow following the pandemic.
Funding from the scheme can be used for any legitimate business purpose including managing cashflow, investment in new equipment and preparing for future growth.
Businesses can immediately apply for an RLS loan from MarketFinance between £50k and £250k repayable over four, five or six years. Repayments in the first six months of the term will only consist of interest charges.
This comes after MarketFinance became one of the first FinTechs to be accredited under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), having lent £250m to companies across the UK.
“This funding and our accreditation as a Recovery Loan Scheme lender is testament to the brilliant work everyone at MarketFinance has done to serve UK businesses during a difficult period,” said CEO Anil Stocker.
“Adapting to the increased demand from businesses looking for finance online instead of through traditional avenues also drove our profitability this year, which has continued into H2 2021.
“Businesses have been resilient and managed to hold their nerve during one of the most difficult periods in recent history. We were there to help with the CBILS and will do the same with the RLS by offering a simple application process, quick decisions and sending funds to businesses immediately.
“Our fundraise puts us in pole position to do this. We played a key role during CBILS, as one of the first fintech lenders, to help get funds to businesses quickly when they found their applications were delayed and or denied by others.
“We will stand shoulder to shoulder with businesses and help navigate them through to the full reopening of the economy and beyond.”
MarketFinance is ready to lend immediately with its debt and equity funding. The debt financing has been provided from a large global investment firm alongside Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.
The equity investment was led by Black River Ventures, with participation from existing investor Barclays Bank PLC.
The launch of MarketFinance Flex Loans today also aims to help nearly one million SMEs in the UK solve their short-term funding gaps up to £100,000.
Viola Credit has provided MarketFinance with £20m to launch the product. Similar to a credit card or overdraft, businesses will have a pre-agreed limit of up to £100,000 which they can withdraw at once or in smaller amounts.
Flexible repayment options enable the businesses to spread their repayments over 3-12 months.