Capify launches £50m SME fund to help businesses recover post-Covid

Capify, an alternative lender to SMEs has launched a £50m fund for smaller businesses requiring additional finance to kickstart their recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The new cash will provide business funding of up to £1m and be open to SMEs across a range of sectors that are already trading. 

Capify says the lending criteria will take into consideration the challenges for each individual business of the past year, and support will also be offered to businesses that are preparing to reopen once lockdown restrictions are eased.   

"With lockdown restrictions easing and a huge amount of consumer demand expected in the coming months, we want to do everything we can to support SMEs and we know that funding is one of the biggest issues for businesses at the moment," said John Rozenbroek, chief operating officer at Capify.

“It's clear that UK SMEs are still in desperate need of finance despite the huge amounts of money that have been lent through the BBLS and CBILS. The businesses we speak to have either accessed the schemes already and now need a second injection of capital, or they were not able to access the schemes in the first place,” he added.

Rozenbroek adds that Capify is seeing increasing demand for finance from SMEs across all sectors, 

“Traditional banks continue to make it difficult for SMEs to get the finance they so desperately need to get back on their feet properly, which means that alternative lenders like ourselves will have a vital role to play in the economic recovery.”