Capitalflow gets new £50m cash pot

Belfast-based commercial business lender Capitalflow has announced new funding of £50m to finance Irish SMEs.

The firm is supported by Pollen Street Capital, which is a significant shareholder in the UK challenger bank Shawbrook. According to Business World, the new funding was secured through investment from two major UK banks and a leading US bank.

Capitalflow funds small and medium-sized businesses through a variety of products.

The company was established in April 2016 and has since its launch advanced over €50m to Irish businesses. The company now plans to double its headcount from six people to 12 by the autumn.

The company was co-founded by Harry Parkinson, who formerly led Northern Bank's invoice finance operation in Belfast before setting up Close Brothers Commercial Finance in 2007, and former Bibby Financial Services managing director Ronan Horgan.

Parkinson said: "When we launched last April, we pledged to commit €300m, that's roughly £260m at current sterling rates, to finance to Irish SMEs, and that still stands."

"In Northern Ireland alone we've already loaned £10m in less than a year and have a £50m pot available which we believe will help small businesses struggling to access finance from the mainstream lenders. From what we've seen so far, there is a demand for our products in the market, and we can only see our own business growing."