Sportingbet founder launches lending platform to “take the faff out of finance”
Mark Blandford, the founder of UK bookmaker Sportingbet, has launched a new credit platform for small-and-medium sized businesses, aiming to “take the faff out of finance” at a time when access to financing has become more difficult.
Together with the former chief executive of Pay4.com Rob Keown-Boyd, Blandford has set up multifi to provide unsecured revolving credit facilities of up to £200,000 to British businesses. The loans will have a fixed monthly access fee of 0.3 per cent and an interest rate of 1.99 per cent per month on used credit.
Small-and-medium sized businesses account for 99 per cent of the UK economy but 11 per cent of these face closure or administration each year, the group said in a statement. The platform is aiming to alleviate cashflow issues for these businesses, which is cited as the main reason for failure in 82 per cent of cases.
Read more: SME funding gap: Firms unable to access growth finance
The company has raised £10m from UK-based fintech investor Fasanara Capital. It said that further funding is lined up following the successful launch and allocation of the initial tranche.
Read more: P2P backer Fasanara launches $1bn fintech fund
The firm, where Blandford is chairman, has already provided financing to Metal Trading UK, a global materials sourcing company.
“In the current economic climate, traditional finance methods have proven difficult and across the market there is a reluctance to help small businesses grow,” commented David Underwood, director at Metal Trading UK.
“multifi is quick and straight forward. The people are very knowledgeable, understand the different needs as an SME and most importantly, provide funding with a viable facility. We would recommend other businesses to use them, it’s worked well for us, and we look forward to growing our relationship with multifi in the future.”
Keown-Boyd, chief executive at multifi, added: “Business finance is overly complex, often leading to immediate rejection for enterprises needing funding. We aim to revolutionise this process by simplifying access to finance. Our straightforward platform allows businesses to ascertain their borrowing capacity instantly, and with the initial £10 million secured, we are eager to support the growth of SMBs across the UK. We are committed to taking the faff out of finance.”
Read more: Untangled Finance raises $13.5m led by Fasanara Capital