£100m raised by LendingCrowd to support SMEs

Scottish fintech, LendingCrowd, just announced a funding deal with Barclays Bank, and a large global investment firm to support SMEs across Britain as they recover from the COVID19 pandemic and return to growth.

LendingCrowd was recently accredited as a lender by the British Business Bank to deliver the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS). The £100m funding will be delivered via RLS and also through LendingCrowd's popular term lending product.

The RLS was launched to support UK firms as they recover and grow. Funds can be used for any legitimate business purpose, including managing cashflow, growth and investment. It is designed to appeal to businesses that can afford to take out additional finance for these purposes.

lendingCrowd will provide RLS loans up to £500,000 over a three, four or five-year term. This is the biggest capital markets deal in LendingCrowd’s eight-year history, with operations expanding and headcount growing by a third to manage the provision of this funding to the SMEs that need it most.

Stuart Lunn, founder and CEO of LendingCrowd, said:

“It is hard to imagine a more difficult business environment than the past 18-24 months, which has seen many small and medium-sized businesses severely limited in how much they can trade, and trying to operate under rapidly changing restrictions, through no fault of their own.

“Many of these SMEs are good, solid businesses that desperately need some extra support. However, there remains a significant unmet demand for business lending, particularly in the £250,000 to £500,000 space. It is crucial for businesses, and for our wider economic recovery, that this demand is properly served.

“We have invested in our tech-enabled lending platform and, together with our funding partners, we will offer businesses automated checks, faster decisions and competitive rates for small business loans. This saves time and hassle for customers, accountants and intermediaries who support these SME borrowers.

“The next few years will require a real collective effort to get our economy back on track – at LendingCrowd we are determined to play our part.”

Those who wish to apply for a business loan, including RLS, through LendingCrowd can do so here: https://www.lendingcrowd.com/recovery-loan-scheme