Swoop, the one-stop money shop for businesses and their trusted advisors, has raised £5.4m in a Series A funding round to accelerate international expansion and help more advisors access an array of financing options for their clients. The funding announcement follows a surge in demand for SME financing, with revenues at Swoop forecasted to increase by 450% this year.

Andrea Reynolds, CEO and Co-Founder of Swoop, said the funding would be used to expand into new markets, with a particular focus on North America. The fast-growing fintech is targeting the US through its existing operations in Canada and this follows the recent establishment of an Australian operation, in addition to its offices in the UK and Ireland.

More than 75,000 businesses  have already used Swoop’s software platform to investigate and access the wide range of funding sources, including equity, grants, loans and tax credits. Founded in 2017, Swoop will have 80 staff by the end of the summer, up from 60 at present.

The Series A funding round includes investment from the venture capital group Velocity, Arab Bank Ventures, IAG and WeHo Ventures in California. Velocity is an existing investor in Swoop, alongside other early backers including UK private investors and Enterprise Ireland.

Andrea Reynolds, CEO and Co-Founder of Swoop said: "Accessing finance for their clients is one of the key issues facing advisors. Finance is data-driven and borderless. With the influx of new lenders into the market, Swoop is able to connect SMEs and advisors with the funding they need wherever they are in the world. To date we’ve helped our businesses secure £500m to grow their businesses.” 

Rajeev Saxena, CEO of Velocity, said it was pleased to support the continued expansion of Swoop. “Andrea and the team at Swoop have executed strongly on their potential since we first invested in the company in 2018. We are excited to see them take their vision to new markets.”

Swoop continues to enhance its technology and proposition, aggregating banking, accounting and credit data so that business owners, advisors and brokers can quickly understand and apply for the products available to them. Advisors and accountants in particular will benefit from this investment as funds are allocated to the development of new features and integrations in the recently launched advisor channel.

Swoop is a chosen partner to all the major banks in the UK and has partnerships with business bodies including the British Chambers of Commerce and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).