MarketInvoice seals £45m annual funding from Banco BNI
MARKETINVOICE has clinched a long-term funding deal with Portuguese online bank Banco BNI Europa, as it looks to capitalise on a surge of interest from global institutions.
The Iberian lender has committed to inject £45m into the UK peer-to-peer invoice finance platform every year, after testing a £28.3m investment last year.
The move underpins a 34 per cent leap in demand from overseas institutions in MarketInvoice following the Brexit vote. This increase comes after the platform recently launched a new invoice discounting product that targets larger UK businesses, called MarketInvoice Pro.
Overall, inflows from institutional players have almost doubled over the last three years, reaching £176.2m, the firm said.
“Institutions have played a significant role in our growth story,” said the platform’s chief executive and co-founder Anil Stocker.
“Over the past two years, they have consistently funded almost 60 per cent of the working capital provided to UK businesses via MarketInvoice.
“This new commitment from BNI is further proof of our ability to provide finance to high growth businesses across the country, we’re excited by their support of our mission.”
Traditional lenders’ mounting pursuit of business ventures in the fintech space also look set to favour further collaborations, he added.
“Banco BNI Europa has shown foresight in adopting a digital strategy and executing it by working with the European peer-to-peer industry,” said Stocker. “There are strong synergies between us as a fintech platform and BNI as a digital-only bank.
“We look forward to building on this relationship as we scale into larger funding lines through our new MI Pro product. I’m sure we’ll see many more examples of this type of collaboration in the coming months.”
Banco BNI’s executive chairman Pedro Coelho confirmed the partnership with MarketInvoice is part of a new strategy.
“In 2015, we put in place a digital strategy to drive our investments through fintech platforms. This news is testament to how well it has worked for us,” Coelho said.
“We are proactively working with fintech businesses globally that prescribe to our vision of providing low-cost, innovative products with exceptional customer service.
“MarketInvoice has consistently delivered these values over the years. The MarketInvoice Pro service is now a further means to build on our relationship as it provides a longer-term arrangement.
“It is inevitable that banks will work more collaboratively with fintech businesses. I am firm believer of this and see much scope in the industry,” he concluded.
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