This funding is intended to strengthen Nucleus Commercial Finance's core unsecured lending product, the Nucleus Business Loan. The new cash comes in the form of a lending facility with the bank and will be used for short and long-term unsecured loan products up to GBP 2 million.
This funding by NatWest has brought Nucleus’ total funding to GBP 900 million, helping the fintech inch ever closer to surpassing their GBP 3 billion lent milestone since launching 12 years ago. The new funding line from NatWest is also set to enable NCF to continue supporting the UK’s economic backbone through its short and long-term unsecured loan product. More than 2,000 small and medium-sized businesses are expected to potentially benefit directly from this new funding facility. SMEs across the UK will be able to receive a decision in minutes by leveraging the capabilities of Nucleus Commercial Finance's AI-powered automated underwriting system.
As per the press release, Nucleus has now overhauled its entire lending process and 96% of underwriting decisions are made in under one minute, thanks to automation and Open Banking.
Officials from NCF emphasised that there has been a significant funding gap in the UK for several years, leaving SMEs struggling to meet their full potential through a lack of access to financing. This funding is also beneficial for Nucleus as a business, as well as its customers. It helps reinforce the company's role as an alternative to high street banks, opening the potential to work with more businesses across sectors and sizes and to branch into the support of larger businesses.
Nucleus will use the facility with NatWest to increase its flexibility and drive innovation, offering more competitively priced funding to UK SMEs while also providing the structure businesses need to withstand downside risks and adverse market conditions.
More about NCF
Nucleus Commercial Finance's mission is to provide UK SMEs with alternative funding options. The company has lent over GBP 2.6 billion to businesses across the UK and wants to make solution-led finance accessible to more businesses than ever before, offering businesses from GBP 3,000 to GBP 20 million to grow.
