Business lending platform Growth Street has raised £7.5 million in a scale-up investment round led by the Merian Chrysalis Investment Company.

Merian joins individual investors including Rob Rankin, former co-head of corporate banking and securities at Deutsche Bank, and Peter Brodnicki, chief executive of the Mortgage Advice Bureau.

Existing Growth Street investors also contributed to the round, including the company’s chairman Christiaen van Lanschot, former Mediobanca UK chief executive Paolo Cuniberti, and Pi Capital chief executive David Giampaolo.

The funding round values Growth Street at £27.5 million.

As the UK prepares for Brexit, Merian’s portfolio management team stated that Growth Street can shake up an ossified lending market and accelerate loan book growth. Growth Street supports growing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with its overdraft service GrowthLine. Powered by Open Banking and cloud accounting integrations, this offers flexible facilities up to £2 million.

Founded by chief executive Greg Carter and serial investor Thomas Hoegh in 2014, the company aims to combine traditional relationship management with technology to provide long-term support to clients as they grow.

Carter commented that new regulations and technologies are driving rapid change within business lending. “We are now working to expand access to GrowthLine and strike new relationships throughout the financial services ecosystem.”

Richard Watts, co-fund manager of Merian Chrysalis, added: “Growth Street has built a differentiated product that provides flexible funds to SMEs, filling the vacuum created by the retrenchment of high-street banks in this space.”

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