Stockport and Wilmslow based fintech company Savvy.co.uk is to create 25 jobs after securing a £20 million investment.
The funding, from London-based Cairn Capital, will increase lending capacity for the company who provide an ethical alternative to pay-day loans.
Jobs created will be mainly in social media and digital marketing as well as software development for the company which has doubled lending and turnover in the past 12 months.
Group MD Mark Bowker, who launched the company in 2007, said: “This is a transformational investment for the company. It shows what a strong team - headed up by MD Natalie Blain - and product offering we have.
“Cairn Capital are a multi-billion investment fund so it’s amazing we have been able to attract such a such a strong corporate partner.
“Savvy.co.uk was born out of my frustration with mainstream lenders who have no appetite to lend to the vast majority of the population.
“I wanted to create a real alternative to pay-day style loans. Potential borrowers can see whether they are eligible for one of our loans with no impact to their credit file in just a few clicks, and then arrange and receive the loan in minutes with no paperwork.”
Savvy.co.uk MD Natalie Blain said: “We have spent several years developing our intelligent loan decisioning software so that we can provide loans to consumers who wouldn’t otherwise have access to affordable credit.
“There are millions of underserved customers who need credit and we are passionate about providing an affordable and ethical loan option to these people”
Savvy.co.uk was recently awarded the UK’s ‘Best Responsible Lender’, at the Credit Strategy awards in recognition for the work it has done pioneering online lending and developing its proprietary lending platform.
To date Savvy.co.uk has lent more than £29m to over 31,000 customers and currently employs 25 staff. The company expects to double in size over the next year.
Brandon Kufrin, senior portfolio manager at Cairn Capital, said that his team had been impressed with the performance, systems and technology developed by Savvy.co.uk and was convinced the company could continue to scale quickly.
He said: “Cairn is pleased to provide financing to Savvy.co.uk, a pioneer in the UK’s online consumer loan arena. We believe this financing will allow the company to further foster greater financial inclusion for underserved borrowers.”