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Business lender MarketFinance is preparing to provide loans to UK businesses as they recover and grow from the pandemic through the government’s Recovery Loan Program (RLS), after raising £ 280million in debt and of equity capital at the time of its last fundraising.
The UK fintech, which reached profitability in March, was one of the first fintech after Funding Circle to be accredited under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and has loaned UK companies a total of £ 250million during the pandemic.
“Fintech was born out of the financial crash of 2008. And now in this crisis we have played an important role in the recovery and helped the Treasury channel the money where it was needed most,†said CEO Anil Store at City AM. .
Going forward, MarketFinance will support access to finance for UK businesses that can afford to withdraw additional funds to grow after the pandemic through the British Business Bank’s RLS program with loans between £ 50,000 and £ 250. £ 000, repayable over four to six years.
When it comes to balancing the risk profiles of companies after the pandemic, MarketFinance focuses on the sectors that it predicts will experience a boom.
“Anything that is digital or is pivoting more to digital is very exciting for us, but there are also some areas where Covid was just a small bump in the road and will continue to grow,†Stocker said.
A global anonymous investment firm led the debt financing, alongside Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, and Black River Ventures led the latest fintech round, with participation from its existing investor Barclays Bank.
After businesses weathered the pandemic with help from the CBILS program, Stocker said the £ 280million fundraising for UK business loans was a testament to growing investor confidence in the UK’s recovery while growth forecasts were revised upwards.
“You just have to walk around to see London come to life,” Stocker said. “With the UK being ahead of the immunization curve and opening up earlier than other places, it means we are seeing some industries returning to growth.”
“So now is the right time to lend. At the start of a new cycle – what we hope will be a bullish cycle now, with a comeback on track. “
After the CBILS program dramatically increased MarketFinance lending volumes and reached profitability in March, the company said it was on track to hit £ 30million in revenue in 2021.
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