MarketFinance, the FinTech business lender, has announced a debt and equity fundraising round for £280 million, a press release says, which it will be using to lend to companies in need because of the pandemic’s effects.
It has also now been accredited under the Recovery Loan Scheme.
That comes as MarketFinance has recently become one of the sole FinTechs to be accredited under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) after having lent £250 million to various U.K. companies.
MarketFinance is prepared to start lending immediately, and the financing has been provided from a large global investment firm as well as the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.
In addition, MarketFinance is rolling out a new program, MarketFinance Flex Loans, which will aim to help almost a million small U.K. businesses solve funding gaps up to £100,000. It will function like a credit card with that £100,000 limit. They’ll then be able to either withdraw it at once or spend it in smaller accounts.
That, per the press release, can help solve numerous one-off or ongoing funding requirements, including purchasing inventories, clearing outstanding invoices, upfront suppliers payments and sales and marketing investments, along with expanding hiring.
The CBILS plan makes it so that companies in the U.K. can access finance as they try to come back from the crippling pandemic losses. The funds could be used for anything under the umbrella of legitimacy, including managing cashflow, investing in new things and future growth prep.
“This funding and our accreditation as a Recovery Loan Scheme lender is testament to the brilliant work everyone at MarketFinance has done to serve U.K. 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.”
In July, MarketFinance rolled out a new upgraded account, which offers simpler managing tools to allow one look into all necessary data.
Learn more: MarketFinance Eases SMB Financing With New Features