ThinCats reaches £500m lending milestone

THINCATS has passed the £500m lending milestone, after channelling more than £200m to small- and medium-sized businesses over the past 12 months.

This growth was achieved during a “record year” which saw the peer-to-peer business lender embark on a hiring spree and focus on lending to medium-sized trading businesses (MTBs).

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“This is an important milestone for ThinCats, and one that we will continue to build upon,” said John Mould, chief executive of ThinCats. “I’m very proud of our team and all that we have accomplished so far. By continuing to seek opportunities to plug the funding gap and compete with the banks, we will give growing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the funding they deserve.

“It’s great to see that UK SMEs are continuing to invest in their futures despite Brexit uncertainty. I look forward to celebrating our next milestone.”

Last year, ThinCats rolled out a new risk modelling system called PRISM, which enabled it to create bespoke lending packages for MTBs. The platform has credited its recent growth to the use of new data and technology, as well as the PRISM system and its existing staff knowledge.

Significant institutional backing has enabled the platform to scale up its lending. ESF Capital-owned ThinCats started 2019 with £800m in capital to invest in SMEs, comprising £700m from City investors and £100m in retail funding. It has a remit to fund small- and medium-sized businesses across the full risk spectrum from £250,000 to £15m.

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