Liberis raises £70m in debt for 2021 growth plans

Silicon Valley Bank, British Business Investments and Paragon Bank are among the lenders.

Liberis has boosted its lending firepower with an additional debt raise to the tune of £70m, lifting the lender’s total funding to date to £200m.

The debt comes from long-term backers British Business Investments, Paragon Bank, BCI Europe, and new backer Silicon Valley Bank.

“Our significant growth in the past two years has highlighted the need in the market for SME support, especially during uncertain times,” said Liberis CEO Rob Straathof.

“As an SME ourselves, we understand the plight and have survived an economic downturn. 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.”

Since 2007 Liberis has funded 16,000 SMEs across five countries with more than £500m lent, and in the past two years its lending has grown 40 per cent year-on-year with £250m lent.

Liberis operates an embedded finance model where it provides SME funding through marketplaces, software providers and other acquirers like Worldpay and Global Payments, where its lending products are offered directly to businesses.

Borrowers are typically offered pre-approved revenue-based financing that can be up to £300,000.

Since May Liberis has been accredited as part of the UK’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).