Uncapped pledges to invest in 500 more businesses seeking a flexible and affordable alternative to venture capital or traditional debt over the next year 

London, 23 September: Uncapped, a company changing the way growing online brands fund marketing and inventory, today announces securing a further $26 million of capital including debt and equity. The round was led by Mouro Capital, the $400 million successor fund of fintech-specialist Santander InnoVentures. All Iron Ventures and existing investors Global Founders Capital, Seedcamp, and White Star Capital also participated. They were joined by notable angel investors/founders, Taavet Hinrikus (Transferwise), Christian Faes (LendInvest), David Nolan & Kevin Glynn (Butternut Box), and Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas (GoCardless). 

Uncapped is the most efficient way for founders to grow their companies. Uncapped’s technology provides founders with growth finance for a flat fee as low as 6% in as little as a day. Businesses only repay the capital as they make revenue with no set repayment date and no compounding interest, equity or personal guarantees. 

This funding announcement comes nine months after launch and following huge demand from European entrepreneurs for this fair and flexible solution to their financing plans. The new model is a much needed third option for founders to fund growth. 

Research by the British Business Bank prior to the lockdown revealed that frustration with the existing funding options available – traditional loans and venture capital – had led 73% of small and startup businesses to turn their back on growth. 

Funding for entrepreneurs has become even more challenging to secure since the pandemic hit. The number of European venture capital investment rounds under €10M is down 60% compared to last summer. Meanwhile, the UK coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CIBILS) which has been essential for preventing SME bank lending from nose diving is due to close for applications in a week. 

While investors and banks are pulling back, Uncapped plans to accelerate significantly and help fill some of the gap. Having already invested in hundreds of businesses, with this new funding Uncapped has pledged to invest in 500 more businesses over the next 12 months and will double the total amount it can advance at one time up to £2M. 

The company was founded by entrepreneur, Asher Ismail, and venture capital investor, Piotr Pisarz, who themselves were frustrated by the limited funding options available to European entrepreneurs. 

Asher Ismail, co-founder of Uncapped, said:

“Uncapped was born out of frustrations I faced launching and running my first business. I didn’t want to take financing from the banks because they all wanted personal guarantees. Venture capital wasn’t ideal either as I didn’t want to lose equity, so I repeatedly missed out on growth opportunities. With this further funding Uncapped is ideally positioned to help hundreds of more businesses across the UK and Europe grow to their full potential.” 

Piotr Pisarz, co-founder, said:

“As a VC I met hundreds of founders who had great businesses but needed a better funding model. Often founders would give up equity to finance marketing and inventory expenses because they had no other choice. It took a long time to raise and often meant the founders lost control of their company along the way. We started Uncapped so entrepreneurs could access funding on their terms and spend their time executing rather than fundraising.’’ 

Manuel Silva Martinez, General Partner, Mouro Capital, said:

“We’re proud for Mouro Capital’s first investment since launch to be in Uncapped. Piotr and Asher are exceptional individuals, extremely well connected into the population they serve, with first-hand experience of why what they are building matters. And there is no better moment to be building for the digital economy, as customer behaviours are dramatically shifting to online and remote, and digital-first SMEs need adapted solutions to fuel their growth. Uncapped is a perfect example of the values Mouro Capital stands for: ambitious entrepreneurs solving real-life problems for underserved clients.” 

Manuel will join Uncapped’s Board and the new capital will quickly be put to work and reinvested into online businesses across the UK and the 12 European countries Uncapped operates. 

Getting funded with Uncapped is quick and straightforward and all done entirely online. There are no credit checks or business plans required. The borrower simply connects their existing sales and marketing accounts such as Stripe and Google Ads to Uncapped’s revenue prediction engine which uses advanced data science to reach a quick data-driven decision. 

Unlike a conventional loan, where the borrower pays a fixed sum each month, Uncapped’s monthly repayments are linked to the borrower’s revenues. In months when sales are higher, the business makes a larger repayment; when revenues are down, the repayment is reduced. 

The model has obvious attractions in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, with many small businesses nervous about their ability to repay, but looking for financing to capitalise on the shift to online sales or get them through a tough period of trading. 

Uncapped is available to businesses that take online payments, have at least £10,000 of monthly sales and a trading record of at least six months. It is a solution that has broad appeal, but ideal for companies in sectors such as ecommerce, software as a service (SaaS), direct-to-consumer (DTC), gaming and app development. 

ENDS 

Notes for Editors 

About Uncapped 

Founded in 2019, Uncapped is the fastest, most affordable way for growing online businesses to fund marketing and inventory. The company was born out of frustration with the limited financing options available for UK and European entrepreneurs to finance growth. 

Uncapped provides business advances of between £10k and £2m without credit checks, personal guarantees, warrants, equity, or compounding interest. It makes money by charging a low flat fee which is paid back from future sales revenue. 

Uncapped’s first investment was £10m secured last year from investors including Global Founders Capital, White Star Capital and Seedcamp. 

Founder biographies 

Asher Ismail

Asher was named Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. He’s led multiple startups and raised capital from angels, VC, and crowdfunding. Along the way, he gave away more equity than he sometimes wanted and experienced the risk associated with debt. Prior to Uncapped, he was CEO at Midrive (now part of The AA), General Manager at Moneysupermarket and part of the early team at Skype. Asher is also a Board Member of Tech London Advocates (TLA) and Founder of InterTech Diversity Forum, organisations dedicated to improving the strength and diversity of the UK tech sector. 

Piotr Pisarz

Piotr built a successful career in Venture Capital working with funds such as DN Capital and backing and growing European leaders including Finata, Divido, and Trussle. Prior to that, he spent four years at Google supporting top country managers to deliver growth. Outside of Uncapped, Piotr is co-founder of VEECEE.London, the largest organisation for emerging venture capital managers in London, which aims to educate the next generation of investors.