Business finance provider Liberis has secured £57.5 million to expand its product offering both in the UK and internationally.
The funding, from British Business Investments, Paragon Bank, BCI Finance, and Blenheim Chalcot, is intended to accelerate Liberis’ growth to help support an estimated 100,000 UK jobs by 2020.
Liberis provides funding from £1,000 to £500,000 to small businesses based on their future credit and debit card sales.
The funding is paid back via a pre-agreed percentage of the business’ digital transactions, making the service especially suited to seasonal businesses as repayments are made in line with their daily income.
Rob Straathof, CEO of Liberis says, ‘Small businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy yet many still struggle to get much needed financial support from traditional providers. At Liberis, we’re on a mission to fund small businesses to help them achieve their ambitions.
‘We’re incredibly proud to support hardworking business owners such as your local bakery to invest in a new oven, help the neighbourhood pub expand with a beer garden, or enable incremental stock purchase for an online retailer. We’re here to help the British high street thrive and remain independent.’
Providing growth finance and supporting jobs
To date Liberis has helped over 7,000 small businesses, advanced £210 million in funding and supported over 35,000 jobs in the UK, the company says.
Liberis has also entered a new venture with Newable Business Finance, a designated Responsible Finance Provider. Newable Business Finance provides business loans over two to five years to enable longer term capital for its customers. Moving forward, the company aims to further empower small businesses, broadening customer reach through strategic partnerships and international expansion.
Catherine Lewis La Torre, CEO of British Business Investments says, ‘A big part of our role is to increase the overall supply and diversity of finance – both product and provider – on offer to UK smaller businesses. We welcome Liberis’ innovative approach and look forward to more of our funding reaching companies through this alternative to traditional finance.’
Mark Onyett, managing partner at Blenheim Chalcot adds, ‘We are very pleased to be helping Liberis accelerate its plans to provide much needed finance to small UK businesses, and look forward to seeing the business expand its footprint supporting small businesses across the UK and internationally.’
Further reading on business funding
