Private credit investment firm Pollen Street Capital has expanded its support for UK alternative business lending by backing newly launched fintech Elect Capital while increasing and extending its existing funding facility for MCL Finance. The transactions provide additional lending capacity for both platforms, strengthening access to short-term and flexible financing for UK SMEs that continue to face tightening credit conditions from traditional banks.
Asset manager Pollen Street Capital (Pollen Street) has finalised a senior secured credit facility with Elect Capital, an agile fintech platform providing short-term capital deployment to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the United Kingdom. Operating alongside this new institutional credit facility, Pollen Street has simultaneously closed a major upsize and a two-year maturity extension on an existing credit warehouse previously granted to MCL Finance. Both lending vehicles are managed by the same executive leadership syndicate, enabling unified treasury management across the sister platforms.
The multi-tiered private credit injection targets the structural financing gap impacting underbanked UK small businesses, which are increasingly underserved by traditional high-street clearers as a result of rigid credit-risk modelling. Operating with an integrated team of over 60 credit professionals, the joint platform provides complementary cash-flow solutions across varying repayment lifecycles:
- Elect Capital (Established 2025): Specialises in high-velocity, ultra-short-term working capital and asset-backed credit options, processing loans up to £1,000,000 to bridge mid-market operational liquidity requirements.
- MCL Finance (Established 2018): Focuses on structured alternative lending lines and flexible merchant cash advances spanning up to 24 months. Headquartered in London, the institution has successfully originated over £150 million across thousands of distinct UK corporate clients since inception.
The capital expansion follows a milestone period for Pollen Street Capital, which recently finalised the closing of its fourth flagship private credit fund at £2.5 billion, pushing its aggregate group assets under management (AUM) over the €8 billion threshold. Dovi David, CEO and Founder of Elect Capital, stated that the newly established facility enables the fintech platform to increase its leverage and product offering to UK SMEs at a time when short-term non-bank finance is poised for sustained, multi-year expansion.
Ethan Saggu, Investment Director at Pollen Street Capital, noted that the twin transactions reinforce the firm’s conviction in the management team’s credit underwriting performance since their foundational facility was established in December 2025, while further building out Pollen Street’s defensive mid-market speciality finance portfolio.
What this means for the industry
- Private credit firms are becoming increasingly important funding partners for fintech lenders, enabling them to scale lending without relying on traditional bank funding.
- Continued demand for alternative finance highlights the persistent credit gap facing SMEs, particularly businesses seeking faster and more flexible working capital.
- Warehouse funding facilities are emerging as a key growth mechanism, allowing fintech lenders to expand loan originations while maintaining capital efficiency.
- Institutional investors are showing greater confidence in specialist non-bank lenders with proven underwriting capabilities and strong portfolio performance.
- As banks continue to tighten lending standards, partnerships between private credit managers and fintech lenders are expected to play a larger role in supporting SME financing across the UK.
Image Source: Pexels.com
