Iwoca Closes £250m Debt Facility Amid Reports of £1bn-Plus Sale Process
Iwoca Closes £250m Debt Facility Amid Reports of £1bn-Plus Sale Process #
British SME fintech lender iwoca has closed a £250 million debt facility with Waterfall Asset Management and a leading UK bank, the company announced, as separate reports circulate that it is exploring a sale valued at more than £1 billion.
The new credit line, structured with private credit firm WAM Capital alongside an unnamed high-street lender, will grow with demand rather than being fixed in size. It extends iwoca’s existing institutional debt base and follows a series of similar funding rounds completed over the past two years.
According to reports first published by Sky News, iwoca has retained technology-focused investment bank Qatalyst Partners to run a formal sale process, with both strategic acquirers and financial investors expected to be approached. Sources cited in that coverage suggested a valuation above £1 billion.
The company’s lending grew sharply in 2025, with iwoca issuing 58,000 loans worth more than £1.3 billion across the UK, a 60% year-on-year increase in lending value compared with 2024. The number of small businesses it has backed since its founding in 2012 has risen to 96,000, up from 60,000 a year ago.
Data from iwoca’s own SME Expert Index show a shift toward larger borrowing among small businesses. Loans in the £50,000 to £100,000 range accounted for 42% of all SME loan applications in Q1 2026, up from 27% in the same period of 2025. Some 57% of brokers surveyed by iwoca expect upward pressure on loan sizes to continue over the next six months.
Romain Guilleminet, iwoca’s head of capital markets, said the lender had grown to a scale at which it is making a material difference to thousands of small businesses, and that the new facility would allow it to extend that reach further.
Iwoca was founded by Christoph Rieche, who remains chief executive, and James Dear. Its investor base includes Augmentum Fintech and CommerzVentures, the venture arm of Germany’s Commerzbank. The company has not commented publicly on the reported sale process.
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