Equity investor platform Seedrs is joining five other alternative finance firms in an exclusive partnership with a new NatWest programme for British SMEs called Capital Connections.
The others are Funding Circle, Assetz Capital, iwoca and Together, and NatWest Social & Community Capital. Seedrs joins as the sole equity finance provider.
NatWest Capital Connections offers the bank’s business and commercial customers access to the best sources of alternative finance.
NatWest has selected Seedrs as the only equity based finance provider due to a history of funding successful early-stage businesses. The others include two peer-to-peer lending platforms Assetz Capital and Funding Circle; iwoca, which offers working capital financing to small businesses; Together, a property secured lender; and NatWest Social & Community Capital, for social enterprise and charity lending.
CEO of Commercial and Private Banking at NatWest Alison Rose said: “We are pleased to welcome Seedrs onto our esteemed panel of alternative finance providers. Sometimes traditional funding routes are not always the best option for hyper-growth startups. As the biggest supporter of British business, we are committed to improving the support we can offer, which is why we have teamed up with a fantastic range of alternative funders through Capital Connections. The scheme is instrumental in offering funding solutions to the many innovative businesses we are seeing coming out of the UK right now.”
CEO and co-founder of Seedrs Jeff Lynn said: “Our partnership with NatWest provides us a great opportunity to facilitate investment into more ambitious early stage businesses. As the most active equity investor in UK private companies, Seedrs has already funded over 500 investment rounds for fast-growth SMEs, with more than £210 million invested into campaigns on our platform to date.
“Through the partnership we look forward to working with many more entrepreneurs with exciting growth focused businesses across the UK to deliver the funding they need from seed to Series A and beyond. It is encouraging to see a high-street bank embracing fintech and recognising the importance of alternative finance for funding the UK’s startup ecosystem.”
