Growth Capital Funding Startup Bloom Raises £300M

Growth capital funding startup Bloom Group S.A. raised 300 million pounds (roughly $376 million) to grow its business across Europe and become a leading provider of revenue-based lending for digital startups.

“We are not another revenue-based lender. We estimate that eCommerce merchants have incurred £125-£200 million in excess fees based on the current pricing status quo. That’s money that could have been used for more stock, increased ad spend, or customer incentives.  We saw an opportunity to innovate rather than simply join the herd. So we did,” Bloom CEO James Hickson said in a press release on Thursday (May 26).

The funding round was led by Credo Capital Partners and funds managed by Fortress Investment Group LLC. The new capital makes Bloom the highest-funded revenue-based lending business in Europe, according to the release. 

See also: Revenue-Based Financing Drives eCommerce, SaaS Growth Across MENA

Founded in 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns by former head of Morgan Stanley’s Fintech Enterprise James Hickson, Bloom aims to provide capital to growth companies that are predominantly digital.

A next-gen revenue-based lender, Bloom strives to differentiate itself from other models with its a la carte pricing model and variety of product features. The startup’s flexible pricing and deployment model is intended to combine revolving credit features with cost predictability and transparency.

“Demand for eCommerce lending has expanded in Europe. We wanted to make an investment in a platform that was moving the product forward and combined all of the great technology and analytics you expect with a really differentiated product and approach,” said Christopher Dailey, Credo Capital Partners. 

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Bloom extends funds to entrepreneurs to use as they see fit and is not designed for a specific purpose. “Bloom believes business owners who have growing companies should be free to use capital in the best way that suits them – No one knows their business better than the founders themselves.”

Christopher Dailey, co-managing partner of Credo will join Bloom’s board as part of the funding round and will be active in the growth of Bloom.