RBS adds Seedrs to select alternative finance panel

Royal Bank of Scotland has invited crowdfunding platform Seedrs to join it in an exclusive partnership as part of a new programme from the Edinburgh-based lender providing connections with sources of alternative finance.

The tie-up will see Seedrs join RBS’s select panel of alternative funding solutions as their equity funding partner in the Capital Connections programme.

The programme aims to help in cases less suited to traditional funding, and provides Seedrs, which says it is the most active equity investment platform in the UK, with access to more early-stage, high-growth firms.

The panel was created by RBS and subsidiary NatWest so that their relationship managers are able to offer British business and commercial customers an alternative solution if their standard finance offerings aren’t suitable.

The banks’ customers are free to contact any of the funders on the panel directly, or they can be referred to a funder by their relationship manager. There’s no commission to be paid for referrals, which ensures maximum transparency and no conflict of interest.

The carefully vetted providers on the panel have been selected to cover a range of funding solutions.

It already includes Funding Circle, Assetz Capital, iwoca, Together, and Royal Bank of Scotland Social & Community Capital. And, it now features Seedrs.

The only equity-based finance provider on the panel, Seedrs said it was selected by RBS largely because of a track record for funding early-stage and growth-focused businesses.

Jeff Lynn, our CEO and co-founder at Seedrs, said: “Our partnership with RBS and NatWest provides us with a great opportunity to facilitate investment into more ambitious early-stage businesses. As the most active equity investor in UK private companies, Seedrs has already funded over 500 investment rounds for fast-growth SMEs, with more than £210 million invested into campaigns on our platform to date. Through the partnership we look forward to working with many more entrepreneurs with exciting growth-focused businesses across the UK, to deliver the funding they need from seed to Series A and beyond. It’s encouraging to see a high-street bank embracing fintech and recognising the importance of alternative finance for funding the UK’s startup ecosystem.”

Alison Rose, CEO of Commercial and Private Banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “We are pleased to welcome Seedrs onto our esteemed panel of alternative finance providers. Sometimes traditional funding routes are not always the best option for hyper-growth startups. As the biggest supporter of commercial business in Scotland we are committed to improving the support we can offer, and this is why we have teamed up with a range of alternatives through Capital Connections. The scheme is instrumental in offering funding solutions to the many innovative businesses we are seeing coming out of the UK right now.”