London-based fintech Kennek has successfully secured $12.5 million in a seed funding round, led by HV Capital, with participation from Dutch Founders Fund, AlbionVC, FFVC, Plug & Play Ventures, and Syndicate One.
The company has created an end-to-end operating system aimed at optimizing operations for lenders, credit investors, corporates, and servicers within the alternative credit sector. This new capital injection comes just nine months after a $4.5 million pre-seed funding round, and it will be utilized to expand the team and venture into continental Europe.
Founded in 2021 by Thibault Lancksweert, Edmund Parsons, and Xavier De Pauw, Kennek leverages decades of experience in the credit industry. De Pauw, with a background in structured finance at Merrill Lynch and as a builder of the challenger bank MeDirect, understands the challenges lenders face in the capital markets.
“Lenders are really just beginning their digitalization journey. Kennek aims to expedite that process and equip them with the necessary tools to tap into the growing non-bank lending space,” notes De Pauw. “Previously, lenders invested countless hours on tedious operational tasks, managing complicated and hard-coded data, which complicated every other aspect of lending. As former lenders ourselves, we experienced these frustrations and designed Kennek to eliminate them.”
Kennek collaborates with established lenders and banks, as well as efficiently launching new lenders through its complete lender-in-a-box solution. This positions Kennek as an incubator for lenders, offering credit expertise, a comprehensive operating system, and access to institutional funding. Corporates also leverage Kennek for embedded credit solutions and managing receivables financing.
Thibault Lancksweert, co-founder of Kennek, emphasizes, “One of the standout features of the Kennek platform is its ability to accommodate various types of B2B loans, including bridge and development loans, SME term loans, R&D, and grant advances, among others. We’re witnessing strong demand across all sectors.”