Sonovate hits £3.5bn in funding after record 2022

Sonovate lent £1.1bn in 2022 to help customers through the ‘cost of running a business’ crisis.

Fintech lender Sonovate had a record 2022, exceeding £1bn in annual funding for the first time and bringing its total funding to more than £3.5bn.

Helping to finance invoices for contract workers, the company saw a 58 per cent increase on its lending from 2021 (£700m), and more than double 2020’s figures (£444m).

According to Sonovate, the record year for lending was in large part due to the expanding adoption of its business technology services by consultancies, labour marketplaces and recruitment agencies.

“Rising costs have presented many challenges, but ambitious businesses are embracing the opportunities to drive growth and increase their competitiveness by securing finance to invest in their workforce,” Sonovate co-founder and CEO Richard Prime said.

“With workers demanding new ways of working in response to both the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, and businesses looking to reduce costs where possible, more and more companies are building their teams around a contract-based workforce. 

“Businesses benefit from this approach as they’re more agile to adapt to changing workload or cashflow and, as this trend continues, the need for on-demand funding will continue to soar.” 

Following a securitisation deal with BNP Paribas and M&G Investments completed in Q3 last year, Sonovate added £165m to its funding structure.

Bolstered by the deal, Sonovate ended the year on a high, lending £312m in Q4 last year, which was an increase of 30 per cent from the same period in 2021.

The London and Cardiff-based company has so far helped more than 33,000 freelancers, contractors and gig workers in 44 countries receive payments from more than 3,000 businesses.

Having onboarded more than 170 new customers in the last year, it says it is accelerating recruitment to support this continued growth, with aims to expand to 230 employees this year.