Motor finance company Carmoola has picked up £8.5m in Series A funding in addition to a £95m debt facility to increase its headcount and scale the business.
The London fintech attracted capital from lead investor QED Investors, along with previous contributors VentureFriends and Jaguar Land Rover’s investment division InMotion Ventures. Its debt financing came from Natwest and BCI.
Yusuf Özdalga, partner at QED Investors, said: “Having not adapted to modern expectations for the consumer, the car finance industry has been caught off guard by the new neo-car finance brand Carmoola, who champion the consumer at every part of the process.”
Carmoola’s platform allows shoppers to find out how much they can borrow towards the purchase of a new vehicle. Customers also have the option to make single payments, put them on hold or increase the payments towards their vehicle financing.
Carmoola said it will increase its headcount to 20 following the fundraise. According to the fintech company, in 2022 there were approximately 7.5 million used car purchases around the UK.
“Frustrated consumers are being put in a corner with excessive rates, manipulated commission, and poor customer service, but it’s the very process of getting finance that is at the heart of the problem,” said Aidan Rushby, CEO, Carmoola.
Last year Carmoola raised £27m in a seed round.