Digital financing platform Stenn has completed a $50m (£38.4m) equity funding round from a single investor, the US firm Centerbridge. The Series A round has given the fintech a valuation of $900m (£691m).
London-based Stenn provides invoice financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It uses data and tailored algorithms to analyse credit, fraud, and compliance risks.
The capital provided to SMEs via Stenn’s fintech platform comes from larger financial institutions, including Barclays and HSBC, with Stenn managing the allocation of those funds.
Founded in 2015, Stenn has provided more than $6bn of financing to SMEs in and out of the UK across different sectors including IT services and retail.
Stenn operates internationally, having financed SMEs in more than 70 countries.
“A lack of access to finance is stunting the growth of SMEs around the world that are engaged in international trade,” said Stenn founder and CEO Greg Karpovsky.
“At Stenn, our purpose has always been to level the playing field for global SMEs, helping to plug a multi-trillion-dollar financing gap by connecting these businesses with low-cost institutional capital.
“Our proprietary platform and data analysis de-risks the process for our banking partners and provides a quick, simple and low-cost solution for SMEs.”
The new funding will go towards supporting marketing, product development and expanding its team with the hiring of global talent.
Jed Hart, co-head of Centerbridge’s European business and senior managing director said: “We have been impressed with Stenn’s disruptive approach to addressing the challenges of global trade finance supply and believe that Stenn has a highly scalable proposition.”
The company founder, Russian-born Greg Karpovsky, has made clear the company’s position on the financing and partnering with Russian operations, declaring “a very strict rule” against it.
Karpovsky made this decision years ago after he left Russia following its invasion of Crimea.
The post SME financing platform Stenn raises $50m at $900m valuation appeared first on UKTN | UK Tech News.
