NIBC Bank invested in the SME lender in a Series D round which saw its client pull down GBP 150 million in debt and equity. The round was led by Augmentum Fintech and included participation from Prime Ventures and other existing investors.
iwoca has been a client of NIBC since 2017. NIBC reports that the investment fortifies its tech-based investment portfolio while also helping iwoca in providing assistance to ensure small businesses thrive.
NIBC also invested in iwoca in 2018, leading a GBP 50 million debt facility from numerous banks. NIBC indicates that the two parties have been building a relationship over the past year. This relationship lead the bank to take an equity stake in the London-based lender, which also finances businesses in Germany and Poland.
Paulus de Wilt, CEO of NIBC Bank said the following regarding his organisation’s investment:
“We are proud to partner with iwoca, following successful partnerships with other FinTechs like ACORN OakNorth, Ebury and Finleap. We continuously look for new opportunities to invest in and develop relationships with fintech companies to add value and find synergies. These investments truly match our core values entrepreneurship and inventiveness and help us to further boost innovation.”
iwoca’s CEO Christophe Rieche said his company was “excited to deepen [its] relationship with NIBC” and that the latter investment will help them give more small business access to the funds they need to “meet more of their potential”.