UK fintech Lovey secures £250m funding facility to boost SME lending

A fast-growing UK fintech has secured a funding facility worth up to £250 million to support its expansion and increase lending to small businesses. Lovey, which specialises in SME lending and brokerage, announced it has agreed a senior secured credit facility with alternative asset manager Pollen Street Capital. The package includes £50 million in committed capital alongside a £200 million accordion facility.

The Birmingham-based company said the agreement is the largest funding facility in its history and marks a significant milestone in its growth plans. Founded by Jack Smith in 2016, Lovey has grown from a one-person start-up to a business employing 120 people. The firm says it has provided more than £600 million in funding to over 11,000 UK SMEs.

The company began lending directly from its own balance sheet in 2022, building on its existing brokerage business. It now offers both direct lending and access to a panel of external funding providers. Lovey said the latest funding arrangement will increase its lending capacity and enable it to provide larger loans to more businesses across the UK.

Jack Smith, Founder and CEO at Lovey, said: "This new facility is an important milestone for us and will enable us to put more capital behind UK small businesses, scale our own-book lending and give more SMEs access to finance when they need it. Pollen Street shares our belief that finances for small businesses should be simpler, faster and more flexible, and we're really pleased to have them backing Lovey for this next stage of growth."

Kai Hunter, Chief Operating Officer at Lovey, said: "The funding announced today is the result of close and collaborative work with Pollen Street and I am grateful to their team, and to our own, for the diligence they brought to it. This funding deepens our lending capacity and allows us to offer larger loans, so that we can back more of the UK's small and medium-sized businesses, from those that have found finance hardest to secure to the well-established, with greater speed and certainty."

Ethan Saggu, Investment Director at Pollen Street, added: "Lovey has spent almost a decade seeing the UK SME lending market from a broker's perspective, giving the team an expert view of where demand for credit is going unmet. We have financed a number of specialist SME lenders and recognise what it takes to grow from brokerage into balance-sheet lending. Lovey has done so with a well-defined product and a focused approach, and we look forward to supporting the team as it scales."

The new facility follows funding arrangements announced by Lovey last year, including a £35 million revolving credit facility from Paragon Bank and a £10 million junior medium-term note programme from LGB Capital Markets.

To learn more about Lovey or to apply for a fast, flexible business loan, visit Lovey's website.