Salad Finance, which claims to be the UK’s largest consumer lending Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI), the largest cumulative raiser of retail capital of any CDFI on the Ethex platform, has secured a further £860k in its fifth bond offer, bringing its total raised from UK retail investors across five issuances to £4.3m.
The latest round attracted 329 investors through Ethex, the impact investing platform, with 65% of participants returning backers, and the raise has already exceeded its target ahead of its scheduled close on 8th October 2026. Salad said the funds will support its work helping so-called “credit invisible” UK workers, people in stable employment who are nonetheless turned down by mainstream lenders because their credit files are thin or non-existent, gain access to affordable borrowing.
The company uses Open Banking data and analysis of vast volumes of transaction history to build a picture of an applicant’s real financial behaviour, rather than relying on conventional credit scores. This allows Salad to extend loans of up to £2,000 over terms ranging from six to twenty-four months, with money often reaching borrowers within two hours, at a time when many households are under mounting financial pressure.
Founded in 2018, Salad has extended more than £300m in affordable credit to over 190,000 people across the UK.
It sits within The Salad Group and belongs to Responsible Finance, the CDFI sector body, as well as Innovate Finance, which represents the UK’s wider fintech industry.
Alan Campbell, Founder of Salad, said: “Millions of Brits struggle to access the right type of credit, and despite Government efforts to tackle this, including the UK Financial Inclusion Strategy, this gap is only set to widen. This raise shows retail investors are ready to back the solution and help break the cycle of financial hardship for those locked out of mainstream credit. I’m delighted to see so many returning investors, backing this Ethex raise and helping Salad continue our mission of reducing financial exclusion across the UK.”
Craig Pennington, CEO of Salad Finance, said: “I’m delighted that so many retail investors seeking both social and financial returns have backed Salad’s bond and we have exceeded our target, well before the closing date. Every pound will go into affordable and ethical lending.
“Traditional credit scoring systems are flawed and often exclude people with stable employment, including NHS and other public sector staff, based on outdated criteria or because of ‘thin’ credit files (no or low credit score).
“We can lend to people that mainstream credit simply rejects, helping people who want and can afford a loan to access fair credit and build their financial resilience. Our bond will remain open until the 8th October to enable us to raise towards our maximum target of over £1 million, and every extra investment means more workers will be able to benefit from affordable credit and avoid higher-cost lenders.”
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