MarketFinance is a leading commercial finance lender that has, so far in 2021, lent over £64 million in business loans and invoice finance to businesses across the UK. Since launching in 2011, MarketFinance has lent over £3 billion.
MarketFinance has been nominated for Lender of the Year, CBILS Lender of the Year, Invoice Finance Lender of the Year, and Unsecured Loan Lender of the Year.
1. How has MarketFinance been helping SMEs over the past year?
The past year held some tough challenges and big changes early on, followed by successes we hadn’t expected. In May, we turned adversity into opportunity, becoming one of the first fintech business lenders to be accredited under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. We’re extremely proud to have been able to help small businesses through the scheme.
In September, we won a £10 million Capability and Innovation Fund grant, awarded by Banking Competition Remedies (BCR). We’re using the funds to build new products and platform improvements that better serve the small and microbusiness communities.
Receiving our own grant inspired us to pay it forward by launching our first Business Booster Fund in December. We wanted to help the UK’s hardest-working and most exciting small businesses outside of government-backed schemes. The grant offered three innovative entrepreneurs a cash boost and tailored business advice to help them take on 2021 stronger. We’re following our three winners closely and can’t wait to see where they go!
2. Has MarketFinance made any changes to its lending to accommodate the difficulties faced by SMEs?
Certainly, CBILS accreditation was a huge opportunity for us to help as many UK businesses as possible overcome the challenges brought on by COVID-19. It has and always will be a central part of our culture as a business to continuously improve our policies and processes to give SMEs more access to frictionless solutions tailored to their evolving needs. We’re excited about going even further for our customers over the next 12 months.
3. What makes MarketFinance unique as a lender?
We’re committed to understanding our customers and the problems they face as small business owners. We don’t have a one-size-fits-all solution because we know that every business is unique. Our dedicated team works with each customer individually. They listen and make sure that each business finds the solution that’s right for them.
We are also one of the only fintech business lenders to offer multiple solutions in a single user-friendly facility. This flexibility allows every customer to pick out the perfect solution(s) for their cash flow.
4. Do you have any advice for SMEs who are hesitant to take out funding?
We know that getting the right funding for your business can seem intimidating. There are a lot of choices out there and a lot of industry jargon. But in reality, once you’ve done a little research and spoken to the right people, it’ll help you maximise and plan your cash flow. The right facility will give you control of that, so you can do more of the stuff that matters with confidence.
Make sure you look around at all the different options available. Talk to lenders directly, or talk to an accountant or commercial finance broker (they’ve seen it all before). If you know what the pinch points in your cash flow are, they’ll be able to show you the best options for your business.
5. What can we expect to see from MarketFinance now that CBILS has come to a close?
Currently, we’re working hard to get accredited by the British Business Bank to lend through the Recovery Loan Scheme. We’re building the best tech to support businesses with a meaningful recovery through the scheme and beyond.
As part of our BCR grant commitments, we’re developing new products and services that will serve more SMEs than ever before. You can read more about the grant and what it’s going toward here.
Stay tuned for the winners of the SME Funding Awards 2021 to be announced later this month! To see the full list of nominees and much more, click here.
