ThinCats, the fintech lender, has launched a £100 million funding programme aimed at private equity-backed mid-sized SMEs.

The loan provider is aiming to help private equity-backed companies fund larger-sized deals up to £15 million.

ThinCats has close to £1 billion of capital to lend and is seeing increasing demand from private equity-backed businesses to fund more ambitious deals.

The funding initiative comes after ThinCats closed a series of loans to businesses in partnership with leading private equity houses.

In January, ThinCats provided a £5 million funding package for Flat Iron, the restaurant chain backed by consumer brands specialist Piper. ThinCats has also worked with Revolve Technologies to help fund its retail and US expansion, backed by Rockpool Investments.

ThinCats provides funding to UK businesses, across the spectrum of risk and in all regions and sectors, from £250,000 to £15 million. It competes against the traditional bank-dominated commercial lending model. Since being founded in 2011, ThinCats has lent over £400 million to UK SMEs.

Damon Walford, CDO at ThinCats, said: “Our mission is to level the playing field for British businesses whose growth ambitions are being held back by traditional lending models. We have helped a number of private equity houses with both portfolio businesses and new investments over the past year and this new funding programme will provide valuable transparency, clarity and structure to support entrepreneurs with their immediate and longer-term growth plans.”

Anthony Francis, Partner, Rockpool said: “It is encouraging to see ThinCats partnering with private equity houses to support SMEs that have often found it challenging to access appropriate credit solutions. Their approach should benefit British entrepreneurs looking for investment to grow. We look forward to working with ThinCats to support ambitious and innovative business across the UK.”

Peter Kemp-Welch, Partner, Piper added: “We are increasingly seeing alternative funders in this space and enjoyed working with ThinCats. Their team really understood Flat Iron’s ambitions and built a package to support the business’s growth. We welcome this news and will continue to work together to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.”