iwoca secures £250m funding facility to expand SME lending capacity

iwoca has secured a new £250 million funding facility with a leading UK bank and Waterfall Asset Management, strengthening its ability to provide flexible finance to more small businesses across the UK as demand for larger loans continues to grow.

The new debt facility will enable one of Europe’s largest SME lenders to increase lending to businesses looking to expand operations, invest in new equipment or capitalise on growth opportunities. The funding structure has been designed to scale alongside future demand.

The announcement follows a period of significant growth for iwoca, with the lender increasing the value of finance provided to UK SMEs by 60% during 2025. Over the course of the year, iwoca issued 58,000 loans worth more than £1.3 billion, while the total number of businesses it has supported since launching in 2012 has risen to 96,000.

The latest funding arrangement builds on a series of debt funding rounds completed over the past two years with institutional partners including Lloyds, Citi, Barclays, Värde Partners, Pollen Street Capital and Insight Investment.

The facility also comes as iwoca reports growing demand for larger-value finance. According to its latest SME Expert Index, loans between £50,000 and £100,000 accounted for 42% of all SME finance applications in the first quarter of 2026, up from 27% a year earlier.

The trend is expected to continue, with 57% of finance brokers surveyed anticipating further growth in demand for mid-sized business loans over the next six months.

Romain Guilleminet, Head of Capital Markets at iwoca, said: “We’re proud to have now grown to a size where we make a material impact on thousands of SMEs and their communities every month.

“This facility means we can offer more businesses the kind of support they’re looking for, backed by some of the best institutional partners in the market. We’re delighted to be working with another leading UK bank and Waterfall – their confidence in our approach means a great deal, and together we can make a real difference to UK businesses.”

James Cuby, Partner and Head of Europe at Waterfall Asset Management, added: “We are excited to extend our funding relationship with iwoca through this new facility, unlocking further lending capacity for UK SMEs that are chronically underserved by traditional lenders.

“iwoca has been able to deliver growth consistently year after year, whilst maintaining strong credit performance and expanding its product offering for its client base.”