Kennek, a London-based fintech that develops “operating systems” for credit providers, has raised $4.5m (£3.7m) in a pre-seed funding round.
Kennek was founded in 2021 with the goal of solving the problems of operational scalability for lenders and investors and a lack of efficiency in the funding of credits.
Co-founders Thibault Lancksweert, Edmund Parsons, and Xavier De Pauw said that the alternative lending industry is still heavily reliant on manual workflows and simple spreadsheets.
According to Kennek, these processes are not cost-efficient or scalable in alternative lending.
In an attempt to solve this, Kennek has developed a software-as-a-service platform that includes live data feeds, advanced analytics, and a full audit trail.
“Our goal is to create a single point of truth for all stakeholders in the lending value chain,” said De Pauw.
“This will help drive capital from institutional investors to the real economy, such as SMEs, property developers, and corporates.”
The company works with clients operating in SME loans, R&D credit, and commercial real estate.
The funding round came from the Dutch Founders Fund, a VC firm created by founders from WeTransfer, Just Eat, Treatwell, and fonQ. Other backers in the pre-seed round included ffVC, and Plug and Play Ventures.
“De Pauw, Lancksweert and Parsons bring such varied and necessary experience together to address the inefficiencies of lending,” said Laurens Groenendijk, founding partner at Dutch Founders Fund.
“The uniquely designed product and lending rails that Kennek is creating will make it much easier for lenders worldwide to launch, operate and scale,” he added.