Fintech lender announces £26m funding boost

Fintech business lender MarketInvoice has announced that it has raised £26m in new equity funding.

The funding round was led by Barclays and Santander InnoVentures and involved European venture fund and existing MarketInvoice investor Northzone. Tech credit fund Viola Credit will also provide support in the shape of a £30m debt facility to help MarketInvoice scale its business loans solution.

MarketInvoice, which has funded invoices and business loans to UK companies worth more than £2bn over the past eight years, says it plans to use the cash boost to grow its team, deepen its strategic partnerships in the UK and increase awareness of its business finance solutions.

The company’s co-founder and CEO, Anil Stocker, said of the news: “This investment is perfectly timed for the company. The quality of investors we are bringing in through this funding round is a real testament to the whole team at MarketInvoice and the value we are building.

“By collaborating with bank partners, we will be reaching many thousands of companies here in the UK and abroad to provide them with their business finance needs. We aim to invest in technology, data and strategic partnerships, to take MarketInvoice to the next level.”

Barclays Business Bank CEO Ian Rand added: Collaborating with fintech companies like MarketInvoice is an integral part of Barclays’ strategy for accelerating growth. This investment demonstrates our commitment to the partnership we announced last summer which offers hundreds of thousands of our SME clients access to even more innovative forms of finance, boosting cash flow and competition in the market.“

According to Stocker, risk automation and data models will be among the lender’s investment priorities.