Allica Bank, an SME challenger bank, has collected £110m in its Series B funding round, as it extends its loan book beyond $1bn.
The investment was led by Atalaya Capital Management, with a commitment from Warwick Capital Partners.
With the £110m investment, the company hopes to bolster the development of its technology and relationship management experience.
In addition to the investment, Allica has acquired around 2,000 SME customers and around $600m in SME lending from AIB Group, an Irish commercial bank. It hopes this deal will accelerate the growth of its customer lending and relationship banking offering.
Allica claims to be the only FinTech challenger bank in the UK dedicated to offering a selection of credit and payment services to SMEs. Since its launch in March 2020, it has made over $500m in committed loan offers.
With the acquisition from AIB, it will have a lending book of over $1bn.
Allica Bank CEO Richard Davies said, “While most digital and challenger banks are focused on specialist lending markets or secondary payment accounts, this transaction demonstrates how Allica is leading the charge in taking on the mainstream ‘high street’ banking market for established, growing SMEs. We are fast becoming the SME lender of choice with our powerful mix of proprietary technology and experienced local relationship managers.”
Last year, the challenger bank teamed up with Sphonic to support its financial crime fighting efforts. Through the deal, Allica gained access to know your customer, anti-money laundering and fraud prevention solutions.
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