Liberis raises £32m to boost growth plans

London-based fintech Liberis has raised £32m to help fund the growth of the small business finance provider and expansion in the US and Europe, as reported on City AM.

The funding for the SME finance provider was led by investment firm FTV Capital.

The funding raise is the first institutional equity fundraise by Liberis, which lends money to small businesses against their future debit and credit card sales and was led by investment firm FTV Capital.

The raise takes the total debt and equity raised by the fintech, which has offices in London, Denver, and Stockholm, to over £150m.

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“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the global economy, yet they continue to be turned away by banks and traditional lenders or faced with unhelpful repayment terms and complex processes,” says Liberis chief executive Rob Straathof.

“We are delighted with this investment from FTV Capital as it means we can continue to onboard new partners, expand our product range and grow our team in order to serve the 50 million small businesses across the US, Europe and the UK with much needed funding.”

Liberis says it has provided over 15,000 small businesses with more than £450m funding since it was founded in 2007.

The fintech will use the money raised to finance expansion in the US as well as in two new European countries, and plans to increase its staff numbers by 30 per cent over the next year.

FTV Capital senior investment advisor Jerome Hershey said his company “believes the convergence of payment processing and small business funding presents a massive investment opportunity”.

Hershey will join Liberis’ board following the raise, the companies said.

Liberis recently recruited former Paypal executive Howard Kramen as its US general manager. Pedram Tadayon, who has previously worked at American Express and Nets, to oversee its European business.