Paragon supports British fintech firm in £60 million investment plan

The UK’s leading interest-free-only credit partner DivideBuy has secured over £60m of equity investment and debt financing from prominent private equity investors and UK banks including Paragon.

Investment will support DivideBuy to continue to develop market leading technology and leverage it as a lender. It also supports the growth of the company’s retailer network, allowing many more consumers access to a transparent, flexible and easy way to spread the cost of their shopping using interest free credit.

Paragon’s Structured Lending team was involved with arranging part of a debt facility that also involved Souter Investments, family investment office of Sir Brian Souter and Jon Moulton, through his family office.

It is the latest deal for Paragon’s Structured Lending team, which has already supported fintech firms Paybreak and Duologi to grow their activities, along with SME lender Liberis, as part of an overall £57.5 million funding package to support UK small businesses and protect an estimated 100,000 jobs by 2020.

Founded in 2014 and based in Stoke-on-Trent, DivideBuy is on target to have over one million customer account holders by the end of 2019. The company currently has partnerships with over 400 retailers across a broad range of sectors and it aims to grow its market share significantly over the coming months.

DivideBuy’s system enables retailers to pick and choose which products they offer credit on with sales landing instantly in existing order systems. The DivideBuy integration updates retail partners’ inventory and links into warehouse management systems, meaning retailers do not need to change any of their normal operational practises.

The focus is not just on converting low risk credit applications, but also creating sector first products, such as a guarantor solution designed to allow consumers with an emerging credit profile the ability to spread the cost of their purchases.

Robert Flowers, Co-founder and CEO of DivideBuy said:

“DivideBuy has one overarching goal; to make interest free credit easy and accessible to both retailers and consumers. Whether it be developing the application to work seamlessly with assistive technology or giving consumers the flexibility to log in to their account to change a payment date. DivideBuy has focused on delivering technology and solutions that enhance the experience of our users and we will continue to do so.”

Lewis Fitzsimons, Senior Director in Structured Lending at Paragon, said:

“As a wholesale senior debt provider, we have been supporting fintech firms, like DivideBuy, to grow their business and ambitions to develop their technology and solutions further in what is an exciting market.”

DivideBuy will use the investment to continue to develop its product offering including enhancements to its offline solution, customer experience and innovative after care products.