Growth Street tops 2,500 investors

The London-based platform also launches a new Innovative Finance ISA.

Growth Street said its business lending platform has topped more than 2,500 investors since it was founded five years ago.

The London-based platform added it has also launched a one-year fixed term Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA), offering a 5.8 per cent annual rate of return.

The business, founded by chief executive Greg Carter (pictured) and serial investor Thomas Hoegh, said the new ISA, will invest in the same portfolio of small firms as its Growth Street Classic account.

The platform’s flagship product is GrowthLine, which works much like an overdraft, with small businesses given a limit, they can draw down on and make repayments as often as they like, within agreed limits.

Carter said: “Reaching the 2,500 investor mark represents a major step forward for Growth Street, and reflects the market’s appetite for innovative investment options. We see the IFISA as the new ‘middle ground’ between the volatile world of stocks and shares ISAs and the low returns you tend to get from cash ISAs.”

Individuals can invest between £10 to £20,000 each year tax-free across all types of ISA. Innovative Finance ISAs, which often involves lending to small firms, are more riskier investments than most other types of ISA.

The platform said to date no investor “has lost any capital or interest they’ve been owed”. However, it does run a Loan Loss Provision, a fund set aside to cover missed payments from borrowers.

The business added that its IFISA is offered through unlisted bonds, which are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and not covered by the Financial Service Compensation Scheme.