Iwoca raises £200m funding line after reaching £2.5bn in lending

SME lender Iwoca has secured a fresh £200m debt funding line from Barclays and Värde Partners, taking the lender’s total debt commitments to over £850m.

Since launching in 2012, Iwoca has now extended over £2.5bn across 120,000 business loans in the UK and Germany and just passed its fourth consecutive quarter of net profitability. 

“With this new funding, we’re in an even better position to help smaller businesses in the UK and Germany at a time of economic uncertainty,” Christoph Rieche, Iwoca’s CEO and co-founder said.

“These SME businesses form the basis of a strong economy, and Iwoca will lead from the front to help them thrive and achieve their goals.”

In January Iwoca extended its existing funding line with longstanding partner Pollen Street Capital from £125m to £170m on the back of rising demand for SME finance.

By the end of 2023, the lender says it is on track to have doubled the number of small business loans it has funded when compared to 2021.

Today’s fresh debt funding comes amidst a growing funding gap for SMEs, with high-street banks increasingly withdrawing financial support. 

Iwoca's Q2 SME Expert Index revealed 84 per cent of finance brokers have observed traditional banks reducing SME funding, a 7 per cent increase from the previous quarter. 

Concurrently, 81 per cent of SME finance experts anticipate a rise in these small and medium-sized businesses' funding needs by year's end, underscoring the ongoing critical role of alternative lenders.