UK SME lender Triver launches following £7m raise

UK-based fintech Triver, which uses Open Banking data to fund SMEs’ short-term working capital needs, has launched following a £7 million equity fundraise.

Former Funding Circle chief risk officer Jerome Le Luel is founder and chief executive officer of Triver, which has received backing from Stride, and other seed investors Axeleo Capital and Motive Partners, with scout investment from Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.

Among its angel investors are non-executive director Dan Cobley, who is the former Google UK managing director and co-founder of ClearScore and Salary Finance.

Le Luel, who used to work at UK bank Barclays as global head of risk analytics, said: “SMEs have complex cash flow management and underwriting their credit risk automatically is very hard – it has not been a priority for banks.”

He added that Triver has “cracked the code”.

“Using Open Banking and artificial intelligence we are revolutionising how SMEs access finance and are partnering with digital service providers already trusted by these businesses,” Le Luel said.

The fintech is able to use “transaction-level insights” to underwrite the risk of small business borrowing instantly and automatically, enabling SMEs to access finance equivalent to up to 20% of their annual turnover.

Triver is designed to be embedded within digital service providers already serving SMEs, such as accounting platforms, digital banks, payment providers, and procurement tools.

Fred Destin, founder of Stride.VC, said the UK’s “huge underserved market” for SME finance is primarily due to antiquated lending processes.

“The right data and technology is now available to radically change this. With Triver we will make lending to the founders and business owners of the real economy way more efficient and economical,” Destin said.

“We’re partnering with fintech and SaaS providers who recognise the opportunity for short-term working capital solutions to support their SME clients. Through our API, we provide an embedded solution that will sit on these providers’ own platforms,” added Le Luel.

Main image Triver’s founding team L-R: VP of product Gui Valerio, chief commercial officer Gokce Yucealpan, VP of engineering Ben Emery, chief risk officer Jenny Holt, and founder and chief executive officer Jerome Le Luel.