Atom & Funding Circle to provide £300 mn of new funding to SMBs

By Megha Bhattacharya

UK-based small business loan platform Funding Circle and Atom, the UK’s app-based bank, have announced a lending partnership that will provide £300 million of new funding to small businesses. With £350 million already lent through the Funding Circle platform, this latest commitment brings Atom’s total lending with Funding Circle to £650 million.

Lisa Jacobs, Europe Managing Director of Funding Circle, said, “We are excited that Atom bank has strengthened its commitment to supporting small businesses through our technology platform. Alongside a wide range of investors, it’s great to see Funding Circle’s machine learning and distribution capabilities being leveraged as a key solution towards increasing the flow of funding to the real economy, powering the economic recovery.”

According to Atom, it will utilise Funding Circle’s technology and distribution platform to deploy new funding to around 4,000 UK small businesses, continuing Atom’s support for UK SMEs. The partnership will support SMEs through Funding Circle’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) product and existing loan product. Atom will lend through the platform alongside a wide range of investors, including banks, asset management companies, insurance companies, government-backed entities, individuals and funds.

Funding Circle’s Instant Decision Lending technology enables small businesses to apply for finance in an average of six minutes, with lending decisions in just nine seconds. This seamless functionality is helping Atom provide small businesses with fast and simple access to finance, allowing them to grow and power the economic recovery.

Edward Twiddy, Chief Customer Officer at Atom bank, said, “Ever since we started lending to UK SMEs in 2016 we have been committed to supporting business owners, most recently as a leading lender of broker-led secured loans via CBILS. We’re excited to be partnering with Funding Circle, leveraging their market-leading tech to continue our support for British Businesses. By the turn of this year we will have provided over £1bn of lending to UK SMEs alongside what is already £3bn of mortgage lending, making good on our promise to be the bank for those wanting to grow their own business and own their own home.”