Iwoca reaches profitability and expands Pollen Street funding line

Iwoca reached net profitability in the fourth quarter of last year, and has increased its funding line with Pollen Street Capital from £125m to £170m.

The alternative business lender said that the total number of customers funded across the UK and Germany grew by more than 50 per cent in 2022 versus 2021.

Last year, Iwoca funded 15,429 businesses, an increase of 54 per cent from 2021.

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In order to meet this rising demand for finance, Iwoca has increased its funding line with long-time partners Pollen Street Capital. Other funding lines are also being increased with existing lenders.

“Businesses up and down the country are in need of instant working capital to manage the increased pressure on their cash-flow,” said Christoph Rieche, Iwoca’s chief executive and co-founder.

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“My co-founder and I started Iwoca to fill this exact gap and we’re proud that we can step up and support thousands of small businesses every month. Our biggest constraint now is raising the finance fast enough to meet the huge levels of demand we are seeing.”

Michael Katramados, partner at Pollen Street, said that the company was “thrilled” to extend and expand its partnership with Iwoca.

“This new facility builds on our existing relationship with Iwoca which began in 2016 and epitomises our commitment to investments that drive positive impact, in this case the ability to support small businesses through a high quality lending partner,” he added.

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