Growth Street raises £10m from City investors
GROWTH Street has closed a £10m institutional funding round and said it will use the proceeds to improve its credit decision systems and expand its sales team.
The peer-to-peer business lender’s latest funding round was led by existing investors Merian Chrysalis Investment Company, advised by Merian Global Investors, and Arts Alliance.
Growth Street announced a £7.5m round of funding led by Merian Chrysalis in January 2019 and said this latest fundraise values the firm at £47.5m, up from £27.5m last winter.
“Our mission has always been to provide businesses with the finance options they need to grow, and this injection will help accelerate that mission,” Greg Carter, chief executive of Growth Street, said.
“There’s no two ways about it – the banks are failing businesses: they have failed to innovate, failed to integrate and, fundamentally, failed to provide small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with sufficient capital to grow.”
Richard Watts, co-fund manager of Merian Chrysalis, said Growth Street provides “important support for Britain’s thriving entrepreneurial sector.”
“We’re delighted that we’ve been able to aid the business by making a second investment,” he said.
Since it launched in 2014, Growth Street has facilitated more than £100m of borrowing in England and Wales.
It recently pledged to channel £60m to SMEs across Scotland, in a bid to help tackle the funding gap left by banks.
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