Profit triples at SME lender Iwoca as loans near £1bn
Profit has almost tripled at business lender Iwoca as its revenue jumped by nearly £100m in 2024, it has been revealed.
The London-based firm, which provides credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has posted a pre-tax profit of £59.1m for its latest financial year.
The total comes after the business reported a pre-tax profit of £21.7m for 2023.
New accounts filed with Companies House also show Iwoca’s revenue surged in the year from £142.5m to £234.1m.
The business originated more than £952m in loans to SMEs in 2024, up from £627m in 2023.
Iwoca also increased its headcount in 2024 from 369 to 432.
Busy year for SME lender Iwoca
In June last year, Iwoca said it was looking at raising the size of its loans and expanding into a new country on the back of a surge in demand for small business funding from alternative lenders.
Co-founder Christoph Rieche, who co-founded Iwoca in 2011, told City PM that the London-based fintech was “ready to take on another region as a new challenge”, having already entered the German market in 2015.
Rieche joined other UK fintech founders in October in warning the Labour government that hiking capital gains tax risked forcing them out of the country, with nearly half already mulling relocation.
In a letter to Rachel Reeves, seen by City PM, grassroots industry group Fintech Founders urged the Chancellor not to alter capital gains tax “in a way which will reduce incentives for entrepreneurship and which harms UK competitiveness”.
The letter, signed by 66 founders and chief executives, said that while members of the group “do not want to relocate, founders are increasingly considering leaving the UK”.
Along with Rieche, other signatories included ClearBank CEO Charles McManus, Zopa co-founder Giles Andrew, Allica Bank CEO Richard Davies and Pockit founder and CEO Virraj Jatania.
A month later, Iwoca secured £200m of debt funding as the fintech looked to grow its market share through bigger loans.
The investment was provided by Wall Street giant Citigroup and new backer Waterfall Asset Management.
It followed a £270m package from Citi and Barclays announced in May.
Iwoca has attracted nearly £1.5bn of investment since launching in 2012. That includes £740m in debt over recent years.