Bank of America backs London fintech Simply’s lending to small businesses

Simply has been listed in the Financial Times’ ranking of Europe’s 1,000 fastest-growing financial services businesses for three years straight, most recently coming in at 989th.

Bank of America has thrown its weight behind London-based fintech Simply Asset Finance to support its lending to small businesses.

The Wall Street giant has agreed a new loan facility with Simply worth up to £120m in what the specialist lender hailed as a “milestone”. The initial facility is for £60m, with an accordion feature to increase it to £120m.

Simply said the facility would enable it to raise its lending to UK businesses by 30 per cent and increase loan origination by around £100m in the first year.

Founded in 2017, Simply issues finance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through an online platform that has also been integrated by two lending partners as a white-labelled product. It claims to have lent more than £1.3bn to over 7,400 SMEs to date.

Simply has been profitable on an annual basis for the last three years. Its revenue jumped 37 per cent to £52.3m in 2023, although its profit ticked down to £5.5m from £7.1m.

“Identifying us as a key growth partner within the asset finance market is testament to the strength of our approach to business lending,” said Stefan Wolvaardt, Simply’s chief financial officer.

“With the potential to grow this facility even further, Simply’s offering will be core to asset finance provision across the UK, allowing businesses to realise their potential, grow and thrive.”

The majority of small business lending now comes from outside the big banks as SMEs flock to alternative providers and established lenders face criticism for making access to finance more difficult.

Andrei Cotonet, a director at Bank of America, said the facility was “designed to provide financial resources needed to invest in critical assets and achieve sustainable growth across the UK”.