Firenze, a Manchester-based FinTech specialised in Lombard lconcludeing, has today announced an oversubscribed €6.8 million (£6 million) funding round in order to double the size of its team to support increasing borrower requests.
The funding round was led by AlbionVC, with follow-on participation from all major existing investors, including Outward VC and Form Ventures. This comes one year after their €2.8 million (£2.5 million) Seed round.
David Newman, CEO of Firenze, declares: “The market demand for Firenze’s solution has exceeded our expectations and as a result our vision has received 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 receiveting to know one another. We also feel honoured by the continued support of our existing investors who have revealn ever growing enthusiasm for the momentum behind Firenze.”
Firenze’s €6.8 million round can be positioned against a 2026 peer set that includes London-based WealthAi (€837k, to automate workflows for private banks and family offices), Berlin-based Upvest (€108 million, to scale securities infrastructure for banks and FinTechs), London-based Bound (€20.7 million, to support EU regulatory approval and growth in FX risk management), London-based 9fin (€148 million, to develop AI capabilities, expand proprietary data and support US growth in debt markets), and Madrid-based BCAS (€30 million in debt, to expand flexible financing and increase student access).
Toreceiveher, those comparator rounds add up to over €307 million, or roughly €314 million including Firenze, suggesting that 2026 funding in adjacent segments has remained concentrated in financial infrastructure, risk, wealth and lconcludeing-related platforms rather than purely consumer-facing apps.
The UK is notably prominent in this group – WealthAi, Bound and 9fin are all from the same countest as Firenze – which supports frame Firenze’s raise as part of a broader British pipeline of specialist financial software and infrastructure funding.
Jay Wilson, Partner, Albion VC adds: “Firenze has built the foundational infrastructure layer to power the next generation of collateralized credit products – starting with Lombard Lconcludeing. We’re proud to support the team as they scale. Lombard lconcludeing 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 lconcludeing to the mass affluent segment.
“David and the team have executed exceptionally, signing partners covering over £200 billion 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.”
Founded in 2024 by second-time founder David Newman, Firenze emerged from a collective passion for expanding the reach of financial services. The company’s vision stems from the recognition that investment-backed lconcludeing, traditionally the exclusive preserve of the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth, can and should be extconcludeed to a wider audience.
The firm’s proprietary embedded finance platform empowers wealth managers to offer cost- efficient lconcludeing solutions without clients requireding to relocate or sell assets, meaning quick access to liquidity for borrowers – often in as little as 24 hours.
Lombard lconcludeing supports a variety of client requireds, from offering an alternative to traditional property bridging loans to “reinventing the bank of mum and dad”, allowing parents to support their children with university tuition, fund their first step onto the property ladder or gift them a perfect wedding.
For the uninitiated, Lombard lconcludeing is a type of short-term, secured loan where a borrower pledges liquid financial assets – such as stocks, bonds, or investment portfolios – as collateral to obtain liquidity without requireding to sell those assets. It is a common financing strategy applyd by high-net-worth individuals and investors to access cash while keeping their investments in the market.
Whilst the company currently focapplys on broadening access to mass affluent clients, its vision is to democratise Lombard lconcludeing and build it available as a potential credit option for all.
Andi Kazeroonian, Principal, Outward VC declares: “When we led Firenze’s Seed round, we backed David’s vision to bring Lombard lconcludeing 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 industest considers about liquidity. We’re proud to continue our support as the company enters this exciting next phase of growth.”
In the last 12 months, Firenze has executed its vision of introducing Lombard lconcludeing into the toolkit of IFAs, wealth management firms and investment platforms across the UK.
The company is now the trusted partner of UK firms representing almost €229 billion (£200 billion) in AuM, including wealth managers Brooks Macdonald and Canaccord Wealth; indepconcludeent private offices Artorius, Lincoln and Cerno; and investment platforms Parmenion, P1 and Soderberg.
Today’s funding round will support Firenze in its growth plans, supporting the company to accelerate the roll-out of its capabilities to more partners across a wider range of products, further enhance its SaaS offering for banks, including the role out of an agentic credit structurer, and launch into new jurisdictions.
In support of this expansion, Firenze plans to more than double the size of its team to support increasing borrower requests and the growing population of wealth managers taking Lombard lconcludeing to their clients.
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