UK-based start-up multifi has successfully secured an initial capital injection of £10m to provide financial solutions to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the United Kingdom.
This funding aims to alleviate cashflow challenges faced by SMBs, who represent 99% of the UK economy. These issues are seen as the primary contributor in business closures, with 82% of UK failures falling under this banner. To combat this, multifi aims to offer simplified access to credit, targeting industries such as wholesale, manufacturing, and logistics.
The £10m capital injection comes from Fasanara Capital, a London-based asset manager and technology platform with assets totalling $4bn. The funds will support the growth of UK businesses, enabling them to access a credit facility of up to £200,000. The unique financing model includes a fixed monthly access fee of 0.3% and an interest rate of 1.99% per month on used credit.
Multifi’s senior leadership team boasts extensive financial expertise, having held key positions in renowned institutions such as Aldermore, Barclays, Citi, and HSBC. Their collective experience in financial institutions and small and medium-sized businesses equips them with valuable insights into the challenges faced by their key audience.
Following the highly anticipated launch of multifi, the company will collaborate closely with a network of introducers and partners to introduce the product to the market. This phased approach will allow multifi to gather valuable insights and customer feedback in real-world scenarios, further refining and enhancing the platform to meet the diverse financial requirements of UK businesses.
Matt Kus, Head of Origination for Developed Markets at Fasanara, commented, “Fasanara is committed to supporting the UK SMB ecosystem through funding partnerships with lenders like multifi. As a quantitatively focused asset manager, we are excited by multifi’s prudent risk control framework which heavily leverages technology, enabling it to provide working capital finance to UK SMBs via flexible facilities that can be paid out quickly. We are confident that our partnership with multifi will enable them to effectively scale a portfolio providing much needed funding to UK SMBs, the backbone of the UK economy.”
David Underwood, Director at Metal Trading UK, commented, “In the current economic climate, traditional finance methods have proven difficult and across the market there is a reluctance to help small businesses grow. multifi is quick and straight forward. The people are very knowledgeable, understand the different needs as an SME and most importantly, provide funding with a viable facility. We would recommend other businesses to use them, it’s worked well for us, and we look forward to growing our relationship with multifi in the future.”
Rob Keown-Boyd, CEO of multifi, said, “Business finance is overly complex, often leading to immediate rejection for enterprises needing funding. We aim to revolutionise this process by simplifying access to finance. Our straightforward platform allows businesses to ascertain their borrowing capacity instantly, and with the initial £10m secured, we are eager to support the growth of SMBs across the UK. We are committed to taking the faff out of finance.”