£60.9m to embed repayment-at-source lending in payment flows for small firms
This article covers SAPI, a fintech company that has raised £60.9m ($80m) to expand a repayment-at-source lending product that integrates credit into payment flows. The development aims to scale embedded finance to make short-term working capital more accessible to small businesses, particularly immigrant- and woman-owned firms.
SAPI has raised £60.9m ($80m) to expand a repayment-at-source lending product that integrates credit into payment flows, aiming to make short-term finance more accessible to small businesses. The round combines roughly £57m of debt with £3.8m of equity, is led by Hudson Cove Capital Management and includes continued support from Triple A Capital and Passion Capital. The deal matters because SAPI says it has already advanced £30.4m ($40m) to small businesses—90% of which are immigrant or woman-owned—at a time when smaller firms are using external finance less than they did a year earlier.
Why it matters
Access to finance remains a persistent constraint for small firms in the UK. Data cited in SAPI’s announcement shows the share of smaller businesses using external finance fell from 50% in late 2023 to 43% by mid-2024, with micro and minority-led companies most affected. Embedding credit into the payment experience removes some administrative friction and can reach business owners who are underserved by traditional lenders.
SAPI’s reported borrower mix—90% immigrant or woman-owned—signals the company is targeting a segment of the market that faces higher barriers to mainstream lending. If the model scales, it could shift how payment providers and marketplaces support their merchant customers’ working capital needs.
Inside the product
SAPI’s product is built to sit inside payment platforms and marketplaces so lending is offered at the point where merchants receive revenue. Repayments are taken automatically as sales clear—what SAPI describes as repayment-at-source—so merchants do not need to manage separate loan schedules.
The company says its stack combines underwriting, loan servicing, and capital access so payments firms can offer users credit without building full banking infrastructure. SAPI highlights use cases among independent retailers, hospitality businesses and e-commerce sellers, and reports it has advanced more than £30.4m ($40m) to small businesses to date.
SAPI was founded in 2020 and operates from London and Hanoi. It has recently created a fintech entity in Vietnam to accelerate growth across Asia-Pacific markets.
Who are the investors?
The round is led by Hudson Cove, a US-based alternative credit asset manager pursuing one of its first UK transactions. The financing package comprises approximately £57m ($75m) in debt plus £3.8m ($5m) of equity. Existing equity backers Triple A Capital and Passion Capital provided continued support.
SAPI says the term sheet for the credit facility was signed 17 days after the first investor meeting, reflecting investor conviction in embedding lending within payment flows and SAPI’s model of combining underwriting with proprietary repayment collection.
In the announcement, Fred Wang, co-founder at Hudson Cove, said:
Hudson Cove is very excited to partner with SAPI as it redefines how embedded finance is delivered, better connecting funding providers with high-potential small businesses that are too often overlooked by legacy players. SAPI’s impact-led model also aligns perfectly with our investment philosophy and builds on our existing work supporting women and minority-owned organisations.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of fintech venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of fintech angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
SAPI was co-founded by Mai Le and Alexis van Lennep. Le previously worked at Goldman Sachs in London where, the company says, she helped build and scale lending programmes totalling more than £10 billion. Van Lennep’s background includes consultancy at AlixPartners.
In the announcement, Mai Le, co-founder and CEO at SAPI, said:
Having the right backer at the right time can fundamentally change someone’s life and the trajectory of the business they’ve started. This funding round lets us scale payment-linked financing that repays at source and reaches more business owners who are too often overlooked by traditional lenders.
In the announcement, Alexis van Lennep, co-founder and CCO at SAPI, said:
By partnering with payment platforms, we can meet business customers where they already operate. Our aim is to make access to capital as straightforward as taking a payment.
Le also framed the company’s mission around inclusion and fairness for founders from underrepresented backgrounds.
In the announcement, Mai Le, co-founder and CEO at SAPI, said:
Access to capital can define what’s possible for a business or entrepreneur. Too often, start-ups and small companies, frequently founded by women or immigrants, are denied credit at a crucial moment in their journey. SAPI exists to make that access fair, effortless and available to those who deserve it.
The bigger picture
Embedded finance is a fast-growing segment in Europe and beyond. McKinsey estimates the embedded finance market generated between €20–30 billion in 2023 and could exceed €100 billion by 2030, potentially accounting for up to a quarter of retail and SME lending. For payments providers, embedding credit is a way to deepen relationships with merchants and capture a portion of lending revenues without becoming banks themselves.
SAPI’s deal also reflects continued investor appetite—for debt and equity—for business models that combine technology with measurable customer outcomes, especially where there is a social impact angle. For the UK and European markets, solutions that simplify working capital access for micro and minority-led businesses will remain a policy and market priority as regulators and industry look to support SME resilience.
The funding round positions SAPI to expand its product across payments partners and into Asia-Pacific while highlighting embedded finance as a key vector for improving SME access to capital in the UK and Europe.
They've invested in SAPI
Get to know these fintech investors
Click here for a full list of 7,233+ startup investors in the UK