Ignite Funding Partners enters UK SME lending

Ignite Funding Partners (Ignite) has entered the UK SME lending market, offering loans of £1m to £25m for organic growth, acquisitions, ownership transition and refinancing. Launched today, 20 October, Ignite says it is lining up £500m of lending capital from institutional investors.

Key points of the launch:

• Loan size: £1m to £25m
• Uses: organic growth, acquisition, ownership transition and refinancing
• Target borrowers: larger SMEs with strong management teams that are scaling
• Capital: £500m, which Ignite says it is lining up from institutional investors

Ignite focuses on the larger end of the SME market. ONS business population estimates for 2025 put the number of businesses in this category at 260,000. They make up 4.5% of the UK private sector, yet account for 28.7% of its employment and 31.2% of its turnover.

Ignite’s own research found mid-sized SMEs that borrow to invest in growth are three times more likely to grow revenue at inflation +50% than those that do not borrow at all.

The lender argues that mid-sized SMEs are often too large for non-bank SME-focused lenders, while mainstream lenders have lost the skills to serve them effectively. Its proprietary analysis estimates the market at about £12bn a year.

Ignite’s founder is the former managing director of ThinCats and has recruited senior colleagues from the lender. Together they provided more than £2.5bn of funding to UK businesses over the past 10 years. 

Ravi Anand, founder of Ignite Funding Partners (pictured), said: “Strong and growing businesses are vital to the UK economy, and they deserve a lender that understands them and backs them to enable their growth. Our job is simple: to provide the capital needed to power the momentum they have created. 

“As entrepreneurs ourselves, we know how business founders think and operate and the challenges they face, so we have created a funding platform which helps them by being relationship-focused, flexible and transparent. 

“Backing ambition is the most exciting part of what we do. Ignite combines a highly experienced team with AI tools which together ensure we can provide the right funding to scale businesses. We will be a genuine, long-term partner to businesses, their advisers and investors, in every region of the UK.”