Sancus business lending tops £1bn

The Jersey-based fintech firm says its lending has passed £1bn six years after it was founded.

Sancus BMS Group, the niche alternative finance provider, said it has topped £1bn of funding.

The Jersey-based fintech firm specialises in asset backed lending for businesses and entrepreneurs, by matching borrowers through a syndication of co-funders while managing the risks for both parties and underwriting each loan.

Sancus, founded in 2013, focuses on bridging and development loans and runs a hybrid funding business model with three sources of funding. These are Sancus’ proprietary capital, co-funders and institutional funders. It added its co-funders include private clients, high net worth individuals and family offices.

London-based alternative finance investment fund Honeycomb Investment Trust, with assets of just over £600m, and the Sancus loan note programme provide the main lines of institutional funding and Sancus added it places its own capital in every loan.

Sancus chief executive Andrew Whelan said: “The £1bn funding milestone of the group coincides with significant developments in the digitisation of the business and follows last year’s securing of [UK regulator] Financial Conduct Authority approval for a regulated electronic platform servicing UK borrowers and funders.”

He added: “Alternative finance is a highly competitive space and our investment in the technology behind the business supports our robust credit processes. We are still very much a relationship based business but our investment in technology acts as a facilitator and enables the business to scale across multiple jurisdictions.”

In February last year, Sancus said it had  drawdown of £17.5m of the platform’s new £50m credit facility agreed with Honeycomb to boost lending.