The proceeds from the funding will be vital for the startup as it nears its banking licence for SME lending in the UK. Jonathan Thompson, CEO of B-North, told the media, “We are using this ‘bridge’ round to extend our cash runway and enable us to complete our Series A fundraising as efficiently as possible in the coming months, at which point we will bring the business to market. The last couple of years have seen us painstakingly bring together the different, important elements required to deliver fast, efficient lending to the UK’s SMEs. We are very much ready to go and are excited to get out there and start helping businesses realise their ambitions.”

Last year, the startup submitted a banking licence application  to deliver loans of between £500,000 and £5 million. Its £20 million series A was built to give B-North the required capital while finalising its banking licence process. 

It appears that providing more funds to SMEs in the UK will only strengthen the economy which is affected by the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit. By numbers, SMEs represent 60 percent of the country’s private sector employment and has propelled job opportunities in the last decade, according to Craig Peterson, co-founder and chief operating officer of GCV.

The post B-North raises £1 mn as it seeks to finalise its banking licence appeared first on International Finance.