iwoca Raises £21 Million From Prime Ventures, Existing Investors

Iwoca, a London-based FinTech startup, has reportedly raised £21 million from Prime Ventures and existing investors Acton Capital Partners, CommerzVentures, Global Founders Capital and Redline Capital. The startup, founded in 2011, has also secured a £25 million debt facility with bank Shawbrook.

In a report, iwoca Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder Christoph Rieche said: “We’re financing it off our own balance sheet, and therefore, having debt is quite vital for us to grow our book.” The startup enables small businesses to get a credit facility online. To date, it has lent more than £150 million to more than 7,000 businesses since starting up.

“The principle is to understand our customers as fast and efficiently as possible. To be able to make a good and fair credit decision but also at a cost point that enables us to lend to businesses that are significantly smaller than the average bank would lend to,” Rieche added in the report. The executive noted the typical credit facility for its customers is £15,000, much smaller than the roughly £90,000 at traditional banks. What’s more, Rieche said it takes just a few hours for a business to get a decision from the company.

“We process their cash flow information automatically through integrations that we have with the banks and bank statements they share with us. We have integrations with accountancy platforms, which give us more information about the trading. Information from Companies House, which is also public, and we integrate with payment processing platforms,” said the executive.

Meanwhile, Prime Ventures Managing Partner Sake Bosch said in an email statement that he was attracted to the startup because of what he said is the company’s “sophisticated approach to lending.” What’s more, the investor said its technology platform and European reach is “redefining” small business finance.