Fintech company Liberis has partnered with Barclaycard, the credit card division of highstreet bank Barclays, to offer SMEs personal revenue-based financing.
London-based Liberis is an embedded financing platform used by businesses to incorporate financial services into their own products.
Liberis will provide the underlying technology for Barclaycard Business Cash Advance, a financing product that provides small businesses with fixed cost financing and flexible repayment terms.
The partnership builds on Barclays’ £34.5m investment in Liberis, which was agreed in Q4 last year.
Liberis has been using the funds to continue the development of its “API driven” embedded finance platform so it can offer new products and services.
“This investment is a testament to our leadership position in embedded business finance and shows how banks and fintechs can create vital partnerships to help even more small businesses obtain the funding they need to grow,” said Rob Straathof, CEO, Liberis.
It’s the latest partnership struck by Liberis, which last year joined with buy now pay later giant Klarna to incorporate its revenue-based financing into Klarna’s portfolio.
“Small businesses underpin the UK economy and it’s critical that they have quick and easy access to the flexible finance products they need to support their growth,” said Rob Cameron, CEO, Barclaycard Payments.
Liberis currently operates in eight countries and has plans to ramp up growth in Europe.
The firm also has backing from UK venture builder Blenheim Chalcot and US growth investor FTV Capital.
Competitors in the embedded finance space include Modulr, which recently raised £83m in Series C funding and is used by Revolut.
Barclays last year invested £20m into Cambridge-based green energy startup Origami in its Series C round.
Earlier this year challenger bank Monument hired Barclay’s former chief of Business Banking Ian Rand as its new CEO, shortly after gaining its full banking licence.