Iwoca has secured a new £250m debt facility, boosting its lending capacity at a pivotal moment as sale speculation surrounding the fintech intensifies.
The small business lender closed the credit line with a household name bank and private credit giant Waterfall Asset Management, allowing it to meet growing demand for larger loans from British SMEs.
Iwoca’s own data shows that small firms across Britain are increasingly seeking bigger debt packages to fund their growth ambitions.
The share of SME loans worth between £50,000 and £100,000 has nearly doubled from 27 per cent to 42 per cent, according to Iwoca’s findings.
That shift in borrowing patterns prompted the fintech to expand its own funding base in order to satisfy the higher demand from its small business customers.
Over the course of 2025, Iwoca lent 60 per cent more cash to small businesses, helping cement its position as one of Britain’s fastest-growing fintechs.
Romain Guileminet, Iwoca’s head of capital, said: “This facility means we can offer more businesses the kind of support they’re looking for, backed by some of the best institutional partners in the market.”
The fresh credit facility, a flexible debt arrangement allowing a company to borrow up to a pre-agreed limit, arrives as questions mount about Iwoca’s future as an independent business.
The fintech has drafted in bankers at boutique tech investment bank Qatalyst to explore a sale process that could value it well north of £1bn.
A person familiar with the matter described the exercise as being in its very early stages, with Qatalyst appointed largely to sound out the market.
The same person cautioned that “there is a likelihood that nothing will happen,” signalling that any deal remains far from certain at this stage.
The move comes amid a broader wave of dealmaking across the fintech and small business lending sector in Britain and beyond.
Firstrand is looking to offload its SME lender Aldermore after the bank became ensnared in the motor finance scandal that has rattled parts of the financial services industry.
Meanwhile, Oaknorth is expecting to learn whether it has been granted a federal American bank licence within months, a year on from acquiring US-headquartered Community Unity Bank.