Alternative credit software provider raises $12.5m in seed round
Kennek, a software provider for the alternative lending sector, has raised $12.5m (£10.2m) in a seed funding round to support its growth in the UK and continental Europe.
The raise was led by HV Capital and supported by Dutch Founders Fund, AlbionVC, FFVC, Plug & Play Ventures and Syndicate One.
Kennek’s aim is to simplify processes in the non-bank lending sector. Its solution covers every aspect of lenders’ operations, from loan underwriting through to monitoring and servicing, as well as investor reporting.
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The London-based fintech said it will use the proceeds of the funding round to “double down” on growth in its home market, the UK, and to expand its geographic reach into continental Europe, following the recent signing of its first client there.
It is planning to expand its tech team and accelerate its product roadmap.
Kennek’s raise comes amid a period of rapid growth in the private credit market. Banks are reining in their lending, creating opportunities for alternative finance providers. Simultaneously, borrower defaults are rising in the higher interest rate environment, making the management of loan portfolios and credit risk more challenging.
The funding round was oversubscribed and closed within 10 weeks of opening. Existing investors followed on, with previous lead investor DFF doubling its investment in this latest raise.
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“Kennek has developed an ambitious and genuinely unique proposition which we think can be the foundation of the entire alternative lending space,” said Barbod Namini, partner at HV Capital. “It is a complicated market and a solution that brings together all information and stakeholders onto a single platform is highly compelling for both lenders & the ecosystem as a whole.”
Thibault Lancksweert, founder of Kennek (pictured left), said that the platform is seeing “strong demand across the board” for its offering.
“We’ve received some fantastic client feedback to date – my personal favourite was a lender saying that ‘the kennek platform is life changing’,” he added. “We are excited to use this fundraise to further develop our offering, broaden our reach and get feedback like that from hundreds more lenders. This is just the beginning.”
Kennek was founded by credit industry veterans Thibault Lancksweert, Edmund Parsons and Xavier De Pauw in 2021. De Pauw, who holds the chief executive role at Kennek, previously worked in structured finance at Merrill Lynch and built challenger bank MeDirect.
The fintech raised $4.5m in a pre-seed funding round at the start of this year.