- Business loans launched to widen scope of funding, plans to lend £500m
- New brand represents evolution from selective invoice finance platform into business finance company
- Fintech-bank collaboration key in 2018
1st November 2017, London; MarketInvoice has expanded its mission in the business finance space by launching business loans today. This will complement their suite of invoice finance solutions, allowing them to better service the working capital needs of UK businesses. The launch announcement comes as MarketInvoice rebrands, representing its evolution into a business finance company.
Businesses will now be able to obtain unsecured business loans from £10,000 to £100,000 over a 12-month term with no early repayment fees. With the launch of business loans, MarketInvoice will deepen its support for businesses requiring working capital around their invoice finance requirements.
Business loans will be available to all UK businesses with a minimum turnover of £70,000 which has been trading for at least 6 months. The solution has been beta-tested over the last three months and received positive feedback from users and partners. During this period, over £1m was advanced to UK businesses.
Building on the technology underpinning their successful invoice finance solutions, which have funded over 70,000 invoices worth £1.6b to date, MarketInvoice business loans will be equally fast to set up and easy to use. Funds will be sent to approved businesses within 24 hours of application.
Business loan customer Melanie Goldsmith, co-founder of edible cocktail pastilles Smith & Sinclair commented: “It was a seamless experience. We’re growing 100% year-on-year and as we head into the Christmas period, the business loan from MarketInvoice helped us to order the stock we needed to fulfil orders to individuals and large national retailers.”
Business loans will be funded through the MarketInvoice platform. Investors include a mixture of sophisticated investors and, increasingly, more institutional money from banks and asset managers.
Anil Stocker, co-founder and CEO commented: “We’re always looking for more ways to help businesses get the funding they need, that’s why we’re excited with the launch of our loans solution. This fits into our goal to support a wider range of companies and to give owners the help they need to focus on their business ambitions, rather than their funding challenges.”
“Entering the business loans space, a £35b annual market in the UK alone, was a natural move for us. Our experience in underwriting business credit, coupled with our technology and people means we are well-placed to serve this demand. To coincide with this product launch, our new brand and marketing campaign this month will help raise awareness amongst British businesses that MarketInvoice is here to help.”
MarketInvoice business highlights (last 12 months):
- Funded over 70,000 invoices worth £1.6b (to date, since 2011)
- Secured investment deployments on the platform from two European banks, totalling £90m in funding per year
- Provided record monthly funding to UK businesses in August 2017 (£74.1m) and delivered 67% year-on-year funding growth from £117.6m (Q3 2016) to £196.2m (Q3 2017)
- Appointed Giles Andrews OBE, the founding father of peer-to-peer lending, as Chairman
- Selected in the Global CB Insights Fintech 250 2017 and the European FinTech50 2017 lists
MarketInvoice’s main strategic ambition is to broaden its reach to be able to support a wider range of businesses, from start-ups to larger businesses looking to scale up. The company aims to help even more companies with their working capital needs, so business owners can save time and focus on running their business.
About MarketInvoice
MarketInvoice is a business finance company with offices in London and Manchester. With their smart online platform and personal customer service, they’re helping businesses take charge of their cash flow, quickly and easily. Since 2011, they’ve provided over £1.6 billion to companies across the UK.
Businesses can choose from a range of working capital solutions, including invoice finance and business loans. MarketInvoice delivers fast, flexible funding to help companies do everything from pay suppliers and staff to launch new products and grow.
In 2013, the UK government via the British Business Bank, began lending to businesses through MarketInvoice. This partnership has now seen more than £100m provided to businesses in the UK.
MarketInvoice is a member of the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association and is backed by leading European venture capital fund Northzone (invested in Klarna, iZettle and Trustpilot) and private equity group MCI Capital (also invested in iZettle, Azimo, Gett, and Auctionata).