London embedded business finance platform announces £70m funding

A London embedded business finance platform has announced £70m of funding to help SMEs in the face of Covid-19.

Liberis has aligned with Silicon Valley Bank, British Business Investments, BCI Europe, and Paragon Bank to drive further expansion and support SMEs with its API powered tech platform.

New funds will be put towards company growth, launching new products and markets, and providing additional customer financing solutions.

According to Liberis, SMEs provide 60 per cent of UK jobs, and up to 75 per cent of these have been affected negatively by Covid-19. It can be difficult for them to get access to traditional funding when they need it to stay afloat, making it hard to adapt to sudden changes in revenue.

Liberis, an accredited lender for the Coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), has provided more than £500m in financing to 16,000 SMEs across Europe, USA, and UK since 2007.

Rob Straathof, CEO of Liberis, said: “Our significant growth in the past two years has highlighted the need in the market for SME support, especially during uncertain times. As an SME ourselves, we understand the plight and have survived an economic downturn.”

He continued: “With uncertainty in the market, funding can be hard to access from more risk averse institutions. We are thrilled to have extra resources to help our partners support SMEs’ survival through COVID and beyond.”

Judith Hartley, CEO of British Business Investments, one of Liberis’ partners, added: “By supporting innovative lenders such as Liberis, we can continue to help smaller businesses access the finance they need to achieve their growth ambitions.”

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