With New VC Funding, Invoice Financer Opens UK Doors

The U.K. has a new alternative lending player hailing from Estonia, and the company just secured venture capital to support the expansion.

Reports published Wednesday (Jan. 27) said Investly, a P2P lending marketplace for small and medium-sized enterprises, has now launched its services for U.K. borrowers with an invoice financing product.

[bctt tweet=”Investly has launched its invoice financing services for U.K. SMEs.”]

The launch also coincided with the announcement that Investly secured more than $650,000 in venture capital from SpeedInvest, reports added.

Investly has only been operating in its home country of Estonia for about a year and a half, according to reports. The company said it will look to link U.K. small businesses with an invoice financing option that, unlike competitors, does not come with hidden fees.

The company told reporters that following credit checks, businesses can receive funding for an invoice within two days. Businesses that are interested in borrowing through the platform can do so once they pass a sign-up test, which involves credit assessments and identity validation.

In a statement, Ruth Chamberlain, who serves as Investly’s U.K. country manager, pointed to the recent cash flow struggles of the nation’s small businesses as a major challenge the company will hope to address.

“Long payment terms are crippling for U.K. SMEs,” Chamberlain said. “They are dependent on cash to sustain and grow their business, but as they invest in products and people, they may not get money on work completed a month or even 120 days after issuing their invoice. This is putting many businesses at risk, especially smaller ones and those that depend on payments from one or two key customers.”

Investly’s entrance into the market also coincides with the ongoing fallout for supermarket giant Tesco after authorities released a damning report on the conglomerate this week, concluding that it strategically and deliberately delayed payments to suppliers and mismanaged invoices, fueling the broader late payments problem in the U.K.