Lenkie, a London-based cashflow management platform, announced a £49 million Series A package in March 2025 — a mix of equity and a material debt facility — that aims to accelerate its payables-financing product and bridge what it calls a widening SME funding gap in the UK. The raise is notable both for its size and structure: about £4 million came as equity and roughly £45 million as a committed debt facility from a large US private credit fund, giving Lenkie the firepower to convert invoices into immediate supplier payments at scale. (FinTech Futures)
This injection comes at a moment when many UK banks have pulled back from smaller business lending, leaving an estimated £22 billion shortfall for small and medium enterprises. Lenkie’s proposition is straightforward: remove friction from supply-chain finance by paying suppliers immediately on behalf of growing businesses while allowing the business to repay over a short term — typically one to twelve months — thereby turning supplier credit into an accessible growth lever. The company frames itself as solving the broken borrowing experience for SMEs by pairing payments rails with real-time data underwriting. (BusinessCloud)
Background & founders
Lenkie was founded in 2021 by CEO Sanjeev Jeyakumar and co-founder Nnaemeka Obodoekwe. The leadership team draws on capital markets and payments experience — a background that informs the startup’s focus on using transactional and performance data to underwrite short-term payables finance with lower friction than traditional loans. Since launch the company says it has deployed capital to hundreds of SMEs and processed supplier payments across thousands of counterparties in multiple jurisdictions, a track record investors leaned on when underwriting the Series A facility. (thebaehq.com)
Product & business model
Lenkie’s core product — often described as a “Grow Now, Pay Later” credit facility for businesses — marries three elements: (1) instant supplier payment infrastructure that pays invoices on the SME’s behalf; (2) a data-driven underwriting engine that assesses risk from real-time operational signals rather than solely historic credit scores; and (3) a repayment mechanism that lets SMEs amortise the payable over periods typically between one and twelve months. That model shifts working capital pressure off fragile SMEs and onto a financed instrument managed by Lenkie and its capital partners. (StartupHub.ai)
Why the funding structure matters
The mix of £4m equity and a £45m debt facility is revealing about both Lenkie’s capital needs and investor appetite. The equity component funds product development, hiring and market expansion; the debt facility is the on-balance sheet pool that actually funds supplier payments. For balance-sheet-light fintechs that originate receivables or payables financing, having committed debt capital is critical — it translates into immediate lending capacity and predictable deployment cadence. The lead backer, described in press coverage as a large US private credit fund focused on supporting lending platforms abroad, signals that institutional capital sees transaction-based SME lending as a deployable strategy if risk can be modelled with sufficient fidelity. (FinTech Futures)
Traction & scale to date
Lenkie’s public statements and coverage indicate meaningful early traction. The company reports having funded more than £70 million to SMEs and facilitated payments to roughly 2,000 suppliers across some 40 countries. Those figures suggest Lenkie’s product is already being adopted by a range of customers — from manufacturing and logistics firms to service-sector businesses — where supplier bills and timing can throttle growth. Early deployment volume also supports the company’s claim that its underwriting and operational playbook can work across jurisdictions and payment rails. (BusinessCloud)
Market context: the SME funding gap and opportunity
Two forces underpin Lenkie’s opportunity. First, banks in the UK (and in many developed markets) have de-risked or tightened small business lending post-pandemic and in a higher-rate environment. Second, digitisation of invoicing, payment rails and platform data (marketplaces, ERP integrations) now provides the data signals required to underwrite more dynamically than traditional credit scoring allows. Together these trends create an opening for fintechs that can combine payments infrastructure, underwriting models and capital partnerships. Lenkie positions itself precisely at that intersection, arguing that paying suppliers directly (and managing repayment terms) is both lower-friction for businesses and a lower-abuse risk than general unsecured lending. (BusinessCloud)
How Lenkie assesses and mitigates risk
Lenkie’s approach to risk centers on transaction-level visibility and platform integration. Rather than relying solely on static credit histories, its underwriting engine consumes operational data: invoice patterns, supplier concentration, payment performance, marketplace sales data (where relevant), and cashflow signals that can indicate short-term resilience. This dynamic underwriting reduces information asymmetry and — when paired with short tenors and near-term repayment — shrinks the absolute credit exposure compared to longer-dated loans. That said, deploying institutional debt at scale requires robust loss modelling, covenants on platform partners, and operational controls to keep delinquencies low. The Series A debt facility also likely contains customary covenants, draw-mechanics and reporting requirements to protect the funder. (lenkie.com)
Customers & use cases
Lenkie’s customers are SMEs that need working capital to buy inventory, pay suppliers, or bridge timing gaps between paying for inputs and collecting on sales. Use cases include manufacturers needing to bulk-purchase raw materials, importers facing lead-time constraints, and fast-growing services businesses onboarding new contracts that require supplier outlays. For many such firms, traditional credit channels are slow or inaccessible — an on-demand payable financing product reduces friction and can unlock growth that otherwise stalls. Press reporting and company materials point to a varied client mix — indicating the product’s horizontal utility across sectors. (techspace.co)
Competition & landscape
Lenkie operates in a crowded but fragmented landscape. On one side are incumbent banks and alternative lenders that still provide invoice finance and supply-chain products; on the other are fintech challengers specialising in embedded finance, supply-chain finance, and revenue-based short-term credit. Competitors include specialist payables financiers, dynamic discount platforms, and some larger fintechs that offer invoice factoring or marketplace-integrated financing. Lenkie’s differentiation rests on its specific focus on paying suppliers directly (eliminating friction between supplier and buyer) and its emphasis on real-time underwriting. The competitive test will be who can capture distribution — either via direct sales to SMEs, partnerships with platforms and marketplaces, or via channel partners like accountants and banks. (BusinessCloud)
Operational hurdles & execution risk
Like all fintechs with balance-sheet exposure, Lenkie faces several execution risks: sourcing repeatable, low-cost capital; managing default cycles in downturns; scaling collections and servicing for high volumes of short-term receivables; and handling cross-border payment complexity. In addition, reliance on third-party platforms for distribution can create concentration risk. Operational excellence in payments settlement, supplier onboarding, reconciliation, and fraud prevention is a prerequisite for sustainable unit economics. The firm’s new debt facility helps on capital availability, but execution across these operational domains will determine long-term performance. (FinTech Futures)
Regulatory & macro considerations
The regulatory backdrop for SME lending is a key variable. In the UK, consumer-style protections do not directly map to business lending, but regulators have shown increasing interest in fair-treatment, transparency, and anti-fraud controls if products are widely adopted. Moreover, macro conditions — interest rate levels, supplier solvency in stressed scenarios, and FX volatility for cross-border transactions — all influence portfolio performance. Lenders that underwrite on short tenors have some resilience but remain vulnerable to sudden drops in demand or supplier disruptions. Close regulatory engagement and conservative stress testing will be essential as Lenkie scales. (Fintech Global)
Investor signal & why institutional capital backed Lenkie
Institutional credit funds have been hunting for yield opportunities outside tightly priced core markets. The Lenkie deal fits a pattern: private credit funds provide debt facilities to fintech originators and take an exposure that is enhanced with the fintech’s underwriting and operations. For the funder, a partnership with a technology-first originator offers access to a diversified, high-turnover receivables book; for Lenkie, it provides immediate lending capacity. The fund’s willingness to provide a £45m facility indicates confidence in Lenkie’s underwriting models, controls, and management team — though the facility will almost certainly include terms to protect capital in downside scenarios. (FinTech Futures)
What to watch next
Several milestones will indicate whether the Series A materially accelerates Lenkie’s path to scale:
- Deployment velocity: how quickly the £45m facility is drawn against to fund supplier payments, and whether Lenkie maintains acceptable loss rates as deployment scales. (lenkie.com)
- Distribution channels: partnerships with marketplaces, ERP providers, or channel partners that can feed a steady stream of eligible invoices. (techspace.co)
- Unit economics: margin per transaction after funding costs, servicing expense, and credit losses — the core determinant of long-term sustainability. (BusinessCloud)
- Regulatory signalling: whether regulators request reporting or set new guidance on business financing transparency that affects product design. (White & Case)
Broader implications
Lenkie’s raise is both a symptom and a signal. It’s a symptom of a structural demand problem: SMEs still face fractured access to short-term capital. It’s a signal that institutional capital is prepared to back fintech intermediaries that can operationalise point-of-sale or invoice-level finance at scale. If Lenkie can thread the needle — combining rapid deployment, disciplined underwriting, and smooth operations — it could form part of a broader re-engineering of SME finance where payments platforms and embedded finance supplant a portion of traditional bank lending. But the path requires steady execution, conservative credit practices, and clear distribution wins. (BusinessCloud)
Conclusion
Lenkie’s £49m Series A package buys both runway and lending capacity. The company enters the next stage of its life with a product that resonates with many cash-hungry SMEs and with institutional capital that has committed the liquidity to scale. The immediate challenge is not fundraising, but deployment discipline: turning capital into predictable, profitable receivables while keeping operational risk in check. If Lenkie can sustain low loss rates and secure distribution partnerships, it could become a prominent fixture in the UK’s SME finance landscape; if not, the common fintech trap — rapid deployment met with credit missteps — remains a realistic risk. Either way, this round crystallises the continuing evolution of SME finance: technology, payments and data are reshaping who can provide working capital and how quickly they can do it. (FinTech Futures)
Case Studies & Examples of Lenkie in Use
Lenkie’s own website provides several business case studies, showing how different SME customers across sectors leveraged Lenkie’s financing facility to smooth cash flow, unlock growth, or manage seasonal or operational constraints. (lenkie.com)
Here are some of the more telling ones:
| Business | Sector & Location | What Problem They Were Facing | How Lenkie Helped | Outcomes / Metrics Quoted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monga’s (Monga’s Kids Wear Ltd) | Retail / Import-Heavy, UK (stock imported from India) | Big delay in cash flows: needed to buy large volumes of stock from overseas, pay suppliers up front, wait for shipping, customs, then sales. Cash tied up in inventory and logistics before revenue comes in. This constrained ability to scale. (lenkie.com) | Lenkie provided a credit facility (payables financing) which allowed the business to pay suppliers upfront without draining its immediate cash reserves. Also scaled credit amounts as the business grew. (lenkie.com) | Revenue grown by 43% in six months. Also: Lenkie provided 200% more credit since day one — meaning as the business scale increased, Lenkie increased its support. (lenkie.com) |
| Optama | Renewable energy / Installations, Scotland, UK | Upfront costs for equipment, site installations, compliance, etc. The delays between incurring cost and receiving payment from clients caused cash flow strain. (lenkie.com) | Using Lenkie’s revolving credit facility, Optama could take on more projects without being blocked by cash flow constraints. (lenkie.com) | Though no explicit number like “revenue increase” is given, customer statements say that having Lenkie’s facility “has been a key enabler in allowing us to grow our business … technology innovations ensure that the user experience is excellent … continually adding new features to support businesses such as ours.” (lenkie.com) |
| IncTablet (E-commerce / Refurbished Electronics Retailer) | UK Retail / E-commerce | Firm was managing refurbished electronics, needed to keep sufficient stock so as not to lose out on sale opportunities, but paying suppliers and holding inventory can impose severe working capital demands. Before using Lenkie, stock purchases and inventory cycle limited scale. (lenkie.com) | Used Lenkie’s facility “on loop” — meaning repeatedly using the credit facility to buy inventory then sell it, then use proceeds to restock. This rotates through cycles. (lenkie.com) | Result: strong increase in revenue. The business had been doing £400,000-£800,000 in sales, now on track (with Lenkie support) to reach £2.4 million in sales. (lenkie.com) |
Customer / User Testimonials & Feedback
What people who have used Lenkie are saying gives insight not just into outcomes, but usability, perceived value, and areas where Lenkie seems to excel. Here are a few chosen quotes:
| Customer / Company | Their Feedback / Key Comments |
|---|---|
| Priya Downes (Nudea) | “Working with Lenkie enabled me to unlock growth capital in days to meet increased demand. The whole process was fast, seamless and the flexibility of repayments was a huge benefit.” (lenkie.com) |
| Hector Hughes (Unplugged) | “Dashboard is user-friendly. I highly recommend Lenkie to all companies looking for instant credit to ease their cash flow.” (lenkie.com) |
| Bettershared (Swakara Atwell-Bennett) | “Lenkie has been a great way for our business to attract extra capital, so we can plan ahead, buy more inventory and grow faster.” (lenkie.com) |
| SBL Couriers (Haris Attique) | “Lenkie has been super easy to work with and adaptable to our needs. It’s really simple to apply and there is no waiting game.” (lenkie.com) |
| Example: Yop & Tom | “Our experience with Lenkie has been excellent. The team … patience and understanding … dashboard has evolved and improved … any transactions I need to make are simple and straight-forward.” (lenkie.com) |
These comments point to consistent themes: speed, flexibility, ease, helpful dashboard / UX, good support. SMEs repeatedly mention that receiving funds and paying vendors more promptly, and not being held back by rigid repay terms or long waits, has been very useful. (lenkie.com)
Other Comments & Observations in the Press
Press coverage around the Series A raise and Lenkie’s operations provide additional insight—how Lenkie frames itself, what investors / analysts see as its strengths, and what risks are mentioned.
- Funding structure noted: The Series A round was roughly £4 million in equity + £45 million debt facility. That large debt facility is what backs the actual payments to suppliers on behalf of SMEs. (FinTech Futures)
- Scale to date: Lenkie claims to have funded over £70 million to SMEs, and made payments to ~2,000 suppliers across 40 countries. This suggests it’s not only UK-local operations but cross-border supplier relationships. (FinTech Futures)
- Market gap: Many articles point out a funding gap for SMEs in the UK, estimated at ~£22 billion, due to banks pulling back on SME lending. Lenkie positions itself as helping to fill that gap with more flexible financing. (FinTech Futures)
- Founders & background: CEO Sanjeev Jeyakumar was a former credit trader at Citigroup, and co-founder Nnaemeka Obodoekwe. Their backgrounds in structuring lending / credit, working with marketplaces, etc., give them expertise to build dynamic underwriting. (FinTech Futures)
- Planned use of funds: The new capital is to be used to improve underwriting, expand partnerships, explore new markets. That suggests Lenkie is pushing both deeper (improving product/data) and broader (geographic or sector expansion). (FinTech Futures)
Insights: What These Examples Tell Us About Lenkie’s Value Proposition & Risks
From the case studies, testimonials, and public commentary, we can draw out strengths, opportunities, but also some limitations / risks.
Strengths
- Strong fit with “inventory-heavy / import / e-commerce” businesses
Businesses that have to pay suppliers upfront, with inventory or stock costs before sales, benefit greatly. The IncTablet and Monga’s examples illustrate how being able to finance supplier payments smooths scale. - Flexibility & speed
Many users mention fast onboarding, dashboards, simple application, flexibility in repayment. This reduces inertia and allows businesses to act opportunistically. - Scalability, compound usage
Some users do “looped” or revolving usage of the facility — paying suppliers, selling stock, repaying, and repeating — which amplifies benefit. As business grows, Lenkie scales the credit facility. - Cross-sector applicability
The examples span retail, e-commerce, construction (via Roseground), legal practices, renewable energy (Optama), event/ecommerce, logistics. That suggests the product is not narrowly applicable. - User experience / UX matters
Good dashboards, easy application, supportive customer service are repeatedly praised. That matters for SMEs who often have limited resources/time to manage complicated borrowing. - Underwriting & risk model leveraging real-time / operations data
Lenkie’s model uses up-to-date performance signals rather than just static credit scores. This allows them to better assess risk and possibly expand financing to firms who’d be excluded by traditional lenders. Press mentions of “proprietary underwriting technology” and “real-time performance data” highlight this. (FinTech Futures)
Risks & Limitations
- Cash flow / debt-facility risk
Since they have a large debt facility, and suppliers are paid upfront, delays in repayment or defaults by SMEs could strain cash flows or cost of capital. Especially in economic downturns or for firms with thin margins. - Dependency on supplier relationships & payment delays
SMEs often face delays from their own customers or contractual payment terms that are long; if revenue is slow, repayment to Lenkie might be delayed. - Cross-border supplier payments complexities
When importing or dealing with foreign suppliers, there are FX risks, customs, shipping delays—all can complicate timing of cash flow and repayment. - Pricing / cost of financing
While speed/flexibility are strengths, cost is always part of trade-off: fees, interest or discounting, which must be acceptable to SMEs. If the cost is too high, it may negate benefit. - Competition & incumbent risk
Banks, other fintechs, or even marketplace platforms may build or offer similar financing; Lenkie must continue to maintain good underwriting, UX, and customer service to differentiate. - Scalability of underwriting & operation
As volumes grow, keeping defaults low, maintaining turnaround times, managing risk and compliance, will be operationally demanding.
Example Comments that Illustrate These Strengths & Risks
To illustrate how customers perceive Lenkie, here are curated comments that show benefits, but also clues to what matters:
- “Unlocking growth capital in days” (Priya Downes, Nudea): indicates speed and flexibility are big selling points. (lenkie.com)
- “Flexibility of repayments was a huge benefit”: SMEs often dislike rigid repayment schedules; this flexibility seems to help. (lenkie.com)
- “Easy to apply; no waiting game”: UI/UX and process efficiency are repeatedly praised. (lenkie.com)
- From Monga’s: “grow revenue by 43% in six months”, “200% more credit since day one”: shows how financial leverage, when used well, can exponentially scale SME revenue. (lenkie.com)
- From Optama: “They have been a key enabler … technology innovations ensure that the user experience is excellent, with them continually adding new features …” shows that Lenkie doesn’t just provide financing, but product evolution, improvements in features, and maybe responsiveness to customer feedback. (lenkie.com)
What These Case Studies Suggest Lenkie Needs to Focus On Going Forward
From the examples and feedback, some priority areas stand out if Lenkie wants to scale sustainably:
- Maintain customer experience as scale increases
As they handle more clients, more suppliers, more kinds of businesses, keeping the process fast and simple (dashboard, service, turnaround) will be challenging. UI & human support need scaling too. - Refining risk / underwriting to cover more edge cases
For example, businesses with non-typical revenue patterns, importers with long shipping cycles, or sectors prone to regulatory risk. Better data inputs, perhaps additional signals (marketplaces, open banking, cashflow forecasting) may help. - Geographic expansion & cross-border complexity
They already deal with suppliers in multiple countries; further expansion will bring regulation, tax, currency, compliance issues. Lenkie will need to build capabilities in those areas. - Pricing model clarity & transparency
To retain trust, SMEs need to understand total cost (fees, interest, any hidden costs). Transparent dashboards, consistent terms will help. - Building strong partnerships / platforms
Working with accounting software, marketplaces, supply chain platforms, ERP providers might open scales: embedding financing or enabling invoice data flow. That reduces friction and customer acquisition cost. - Stress testing in different economic scenarios
Recession, supplier disruptions, inflation of input costs—these can stress cashflow models. Ensuring that underwriting, capital backstop, debt facility terms are robust against stress will be key.