Firenze raises £2.5m in seed funding led by Outward VC to expand Lombard lending access
The seed round was led by Outward VC with participation from Form Ventures and Portfolio Ventures.
Firenze operates a Lombard lending platform that enables wealth managers and investment platforms to offer asset backed credit solutions. The firm provides embedded finance infrastructure to facilitate liquidity access for investors.
Firenze has secured £2.5m in a seed funding round led by Outward VC to expand access to Lombard lending for mass affluent investors. The financing also saw participation from fintech investors Portfolio Ventures and Form Ventures, alongside angel investor Lord Fink.
The company has developed a proprietary embedded finance platform that enables wealth managers to offer low interest loans secured against investment portfolios. This structure allows borrowers to access liquidity without liquidating assets or triggering capital gains tax, broadening a financing instrument traditionally restricted to private bank clients with more than £1m in assets.
With the fresh capital, Firenze plans to accelerate its growth, scale its operations, and forge additional partnerships with wealth managers. The firm aims to facilitate over £1bn in lending over the next three years.
From the founder
"We are thrilled to have Outward, Form, Portfolio Ventures and an incredible range of angel investors backing our vision to broaden access to Lombard lending. Market demand has far exceeded our expectations and this funding enables us to accelerate Firenze’s rollout to more wealth managers, support their advisors and drive awareness on the benefits of Lombard lending."
David Newman
CEO at Firenze
Investor perspective
"Outward has a long-standing thesis around the power of combining technology, networks and innovative structures to open up exclusive financial products to a much larger audience whilst also transforming the user experience. Firenze is the embodiment of this, bringing to market a highly demanded solution that acts as a clear win-win-win for borrowers, wealth managers and funders. David and his talented team have executed at an exceptional velocity to bring this vision to life and we are delighted to support them on their journey to build the next category defining fintech."
Andi Kazeroonian
Principal, Outward
Use of funds
- 01Scale operations
