29. MarketInvoice

Founders: Charles Delingpole and Anil Stocker
Founded: July 2010 (launched March 2011) 
Website: http://marketinvoice.com/

Formed with the aim of revolutionising the UK lending landscape, MarketInvoice offers a distinctly alternative way for businesses to access capital. A top 20 entrant in the 2012 Startups 100 list, the service enables businesses to raise finance against their invoices by auctioning them off to professional investors who then bid to advance the capital in return for a fee at a later date. The brain child of Charles Delingpole and Anil Stocker, former city workers with backgrounds in private equity and IT, the lending company is fast gaining an impressive reputation. With £59m advanced so far to companies across the world, the lending firm’s innovative approach has even attracted attention from the government, with a recent award of £5m as part of the Business Finance Partnership Programme. The grant marks the next stage of the company’s growth as it will channel the investment through its platform as extra working capital for UK businesses, expanding its reach. Currently in the process of establishing a customer liaison office in Hong Kong, the pioneering company is firmly establishing itself as a disruptive market leader in alternative invoice finance.