We believe finance expands possibilities
Our story
iwoca was founded to expand possibilities for small businesses.
When small businesses go to traditional lenders they're forced to deal with long waits, endless paperwork, absurdly rigid criteria, and impersonal bureaucracies. That means the UK’s five and a half million small businesses struggle to get the finance they need - limiting the potential of both the business and the economy.
At iwoca, we believe finance should feel like a superpower, not a headache. That’s why our founders, Chris and James, decided to create a solution custom-built for small businesses. One that strips out the hassle, gets to know what each business needs, and looks for opportunities rather than problems. One that provides access to finance where and when your business needs it.
Since 2012, we’ve made funding available to over 50,000 businesses, from cafés to car dealers, salons to solicitors. But we’ve only just started. Our mission is to fund one million small businesses.
Custom built for Europe’s small businesses
2011
year founded50,000+
customers£900,000,000+
in total funding"They understand what growth we need and what potential we have. It’s just a much better way of borrowing."
Charles Burch
EXF Fitness"Very useful, fast and responsive. We were able to apply and draw down our funds within two days."
Tom Hyde
Brew Lab Coffee"A loan from iwoca took one day! Really good service, polite, friendly, and efficient."
Jim O’Brien
The Change GroupOur work for small businesses
We've won £10 million to help British business owners!
The award will help us secure the firepower we need to fund over 150,000 business, and make £5 billion in finance available to them by 2023.
Read articleiwoca reveals plan to fix Government's failing Bank Referral Scheme
For the sake of the UK's 5.7 million small businesses, iwoca CEO and co-founder Christoph Rieche has written a letter to the Chancellor arguing why the Bank Referral Scheme deserves to be fixed.
Read articleWe’re growing our team
We’re now a team of over 200, and we’re looking for motivated people to join us in our mission.
Working at iwoca'Faster than Farah': iwoca takes over 12% of all UK small business overdraft approvals
We've also overtaken Mo Farah's European record with our fastest business loan of 3 minutes and 26 seconds.
Read articleiwoca launches Open Banking with HSBC and Barclays
As we celebrate the end of the year, we're really pleased to connect to Barclays and HSBC through Open Banking. We now offer three Open Banking connections, including Lloyds Bank, so more than 60 percent of our customers can open up to Open Banking.
Read articleScaling up people-friendly fintech
As our new COO, Seema Desai is bringing 18 years of financial and tech experiences into her role at iwoca, helping develop smarter processes for customers and colleagues, encouraging diversity, and enjoying a few mountains on the way.
Read articleiwoca becomes first business lender to connect to UK bank via Open Banking
We've successfully released Open Banking for all new customers with a Lloyds Bank account.
Read article