Firenze, a fintech platform focused on credit infrastructure for wealth management, has secured £6 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by AlbionVC, with follow-on backing from existing investors including Outward VC and Form Ventures. The raise comes just 12 months after its £2.5 million seed round and reflects accelerating institutional adoption of its Lombard lending technology.
Firenze is building an embedded finance platform designed to enable wealth managers, independent financial advisers, and investment platforms to offer lending secured against client portfolios without requiring asset liquidation or transfer. The company’s infrastructure allows borrowers to access liquidity, often within 24 hours, while maintaining their investment positions.
Over the past year, Firenze has expanded rapidly across the UK wealth ecosystem, positioning itself as a key provider of Lombard lending solutions. The company now partners with firms representing nearly £200 billion in assets under management, including Brooks Macdonald and Canaccord Wealth, as well as platforms such as Parmenion, P1 Investment Platform, and Söderberg & Partners.
Demand for flexible liquidity solutions has grown significantly, with Firenze reporting that total drawn lending facilities tripled in the first quarter alone. Use cases range from property financing alternatives to intergenerational wealth transfer, tax planning, and funding major life events, all without disrupting long-term investment strategies.
The company is also seeing increasing interest from private banks, which have traditionally dominated Lombard lending. Firenze’s platform aims to enhance efficiency, risk management, and capital optimization for these institutions while enabling lending against assets held outside their custody.
The new capital will be used to scale Firenze’s platform, expand into new jurisdictions, and enhance its SaaS offering for financial institutions, including the development of an agentic credit structuring capability. The company also plans to significantly grow its team to support rising demand from both borrowers and partners.
KEY QUOTES
“The market demand for Firenze’s solution has exceeded our expectations and as a result our vision has got more and more ambitious. We, therefore, felt now was the right time to take on further capital to accelerate our plans. When seeking a partner to work with for this next phase of growth Jay and Albion stood out. I ultimately believe passion and trust are the two most important attributes when choosing a VC to work with and Jay & Albion have demonstrated that time and time again through the process of getting to know one another. We also feel honoured by the continued support of our existing investors who have shown ever growing enthusiasm for the momentum behind Firenze.”
David Newman, CEO, Firenze
“Firenze has built the foundational infrastructure layer to power the next generation of collateralized credit products, starting with Lombard Lending. We’re proud to support the team as they scale. Lombard lending has been one of private banking’s most powerful tools, yet the vast majority of investors have had no access to it. Firenze is democratising this access, bringing Lombard lending to the mass affluent segment. David and the team have executed exceptionally, signing partners covering over £200bn in assets and delivering a platform that solves the custody, capital, and compliance challenges simultaneously. That combination of market timing and product depth gave us the conviction to lead this round.”
Jay Wilson, Partner, AlbionVC
“When we led Firenze’s seed round, we backed David’s vision to bring Lombard lending beyond the walls of large private banks. Twelve months on, the progress has exceeded our expectations, including a five-fold increase in its partner network, a rapidly growing loan book, and a SaaS proposition that’s attracting leading banks and financial institutions, as has the vision for its future. Firenze is now proving that the credit infrastructure it has built can reshape how the entire wealth industry thinks about liquidity. We’re proud to continue our support as the company enters this exciting next phase of growth.”
Andi Kazeroonian, Principal, Outward VC
