Firenze, the fintech innovator redefining Lombard lending, has successfully closed a £2.5 million seed funding round.
The round was led by Outward VC – the backers of Curve, PrimaryBid and Vauban – alongside top-tier early stage fintech investors Form Ventures and Portfolio Ventures.
Firenze’s latest investment will be used to fuel the firm’s rapid growth and support its mission to broaden access to Lombard lending outside of private banks who typically only serve those with over £1m in assets – the firm is aiming to open up over £1 billion in Lombard lending for mass affluent investors over the next three years.
By bringing Lombard lending to wealth managers – dragging it out of the closed world of private banking and the super-rich – Firenze enables mass affluent investors and those that don’t want to work with a private bank to borrow against the value of their investment portfolios without selling assets, disrupting investment plans and triggering capital gains – all while continuing to make gains from investment returns.
The Firenze platform offers loans from as little as £65,000, secured against clients’ investment portfolios – and because borrowing is secured lending with highly liquid collateral, Lombard lending offers lower interest rates compared to typical unsecured loans and allows decisions to be made in hours rather than weeks or months
Firenze is already collaborating with leading wealth managers overseeing c.£75 billion in assets under management (AUM). Allowing them to complete their proposition, better meet client needs and simplify their operating model through no longer needing to move assets to a private bank to offer Lombard lending.
