SME lending platform LendingCrowd has closed a £100 million funding deal with Barclays Bank and a large global investment firm.

The money will be delivered via the British Business Bank’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) – which LendingCrowd has been accredited as a lender for – as well as through its term lending product.

The scheme is designed to support UK businesses financially as they recover and grow following the pandemic.

The FinTech has already started dishing out the funding to SMEs across the UK.

The company will provide RLS loans up to £500,000 over a three, four, or five-year term.

It said that the funding agreement is the biggest capital markets deal in its eight-year history, with headcount growing by a third to manage the provision of this funding to the SMEs that need it most.

“It is hard to imagine a more difficult business environment than the past 18 to 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,” said Stuart Lunn, founder and chief executive, LendingCrowd. “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."

Share Story: