Irish fintech Swoop has raised €6.3m in a Series A funding round to accelerate international expansion and help more companies to access an array of financing options. The funding announcement follows a surge in demand for SME financing, with revenues at Swoop forecasted to increase by 450% this year. 
 
More than 75,000 businesses have used Swoop’s software platform to investigate and access a wide range of funding sources, including equity, grants, loans and tax credits. Founded in 2017, Swoop will have 80 staff by the end of the summer, up from 60 at present. It employs 20 people at its Dublin office in Dogpatch Labs and is actively hiring there.

The Series A funding round includes investment from the UK venture capital group Velocity, Arab Bank Ventures, IAG and WeHo Ventures in California. Velocity is an existing investor in Swoop, alongside other early backers including Enterprise Ireland and Irish angel investors. 
 
Andrea Reynolds, CEO and Co-Founder of Swoop, said the funding would be used to expand into new markets, with a particular focus on North America. The fast-growing fintech is targeting the US through its existing operations in Canada and this follows the recent establishment of an Australian operation, in addition to its offices in Ireland and the UK. 
 
The company is continuing to enhance its technology and proposition, including delivering growth capital options for ‘asset-light’ companies that may have difficulty accessing traditional finance. Swoop was also instrumental in distributing hundreds of millions of pounds in business loans in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic, via the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

The company recently marked its first partnership in Ireland, through the launch of the ISME Finance Finder portal in conjunction with ISME, the Irish SME Association. 
 
CEO and Co-Founder of Swoop, Andrea Reynolds says, "Access to finance is the number one issue facing SMEs, but they have traditionally been an underserved customer segment. Finance is data-driven and borderless. With the influx of new lenders into the market, Swoop is able to connect SMEs with the funding they need wherever they are in the world. To date we’ve helped our customers secure £500m to grow their businesses."

Reporting: Business World