Tag Archive for: R&D Tax Credits

Appointment of Technology Development Director

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Leading the way

Sprk, the innovative online provider of R&D tax credit funding, is pleased to announce that Ivan Ananjev has joined as Technology Development Director.

Ivan has more than 15 years’ experience in complex software development. He joins from Willis Towers Watson where he led the development team on their Gateway Platform. Prior to this Ivan was one of the early technology development team at Hometrack part of Zoopla, the UK’s leading property search and valuation company.

Ivan specialises in designing technology applications for internal business use, integrating third party platforms, transformation and migration to cloud environments as well as designing amazing customer interfaces.

Dom Peasley, CEO Sprk said, “We are excited to have such a high calibre individual join the Sprk team. The advent of open banking combined with technological developments in KYC/AML and credit referencing means Sprk is able to stay ahead of the field providing a simple, straightforward borrowing experience. We pride ourselves of speed and certainty of finance, Ivan is very well placed to ensure we have the best technology infrastructure to help SMEs access funding and support British business innovation.”

About Sprk:

Sprk provides SMEs the ability to access cash sooner from their eligible R&D spend using its proprietary online platform, ensuring credit decisions are made swiftly with certainty of funding.

Providing loans of up to £1m, Sprk’s unique proposition is designed to optimise cashflow for borrowers through a non-dilutionary source of capital without charging upfront fees.

Sprk was founded by its Chairman Tony Brennan following the successful launch, build and subsequent sale of Radium Capital in Australia. Radium has become the largest specialty lender for R&D tax credits in Australia in the five years since it launched.

Enquiries:

SPRK Capital
Dominick Peasley, +44 7748 474 952

SPRK announces open banking technology partnership with Codat

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SPRK Capital

SPRK Capital (“SPRK”), the innovative online provider of R&D tax credit funding, today announces its partnership with the universal API for business data, Codat. The partnership with Codat enables SPRK to accelerate its online borrower journey, providing enhanced decision making for its R&D lending proposition. Codat provides consented access to real-time banking, accounting and commerce data on SMEs through a single API.

In the latest data from HMRC, over 75,000 R&D tax claims were made in the UK by SMEs worth over £4.4bn. SMEs however typically wait over 15 months from their initial expenditure to receipt of their tax credit, a critical part of the cashflow for many SMEs as they innovate, scale and grow. SPRK accelerates this cashflow, working with businesses from the point they start incurring qualifying R&D expenses.

Dom Peasley, CEO at SPRK, said “We are extremely excited by our partnership with Codat. We are committed to providing borrowers with a simple, online solution to accelerate their R&D funding.

SPRK’s online lending platform ensures speed and certainty of funding, R&D companies no longer have to wait to access their R&D tax credits. Companies can now borrow against their R&D expenditure as they incur it, revolutionising the cashflow potential for thousands of SMEs.

The UK leads the way in Research and Development and SPRK’s financing solutions can now help SMEs accelerate this growth further, supporting British businesses.”

Peter Lord, CEO at Codat, said “By giving SMEs access to research and development funds sooner, SPRK is paving the way for more innovation led by small businesses – a cause we’re proud to support.

Our API provides the foundations to make the process of accessing credit fast and frictionless for these businesses. We’re delighted to partner with SPRK Capital because they are committed to providing not just funds but a great experience to customers from the outset.”

SPRK’s online lending platform ensures speed and certainty, R&D companies no longer have to wait to access their R&D tax credits. Companies can now borrow against their R&D expenditure as they incur it, revolutionising the cashflow potential for thousands of SMEs.

The UK leads the way in Research and Development and SPRK’s financing solutions can now help SMEs accelerate this growth further, supporting British businesses.”

About SPRK:

SPRK provides SMEs the ability to access cash sooner from their eligible R&D spend using its proprietary online platform, ensuring credit decisions are made swiftly with certainty of funding.

Providing loans of up to £1m, SPRK’s unique proposition is designed to optimise cashflow for borrowers through a non-dilutionary source of capital without charging upfront fees.

SPRK was founded by its Chairman Tony Brennan following the successful launch, build and subsequent sale of Radium Capital in Australia. Radium has become the largest specialty lender for R&D tax credits in Australia in the four years since it launched.

About Codat:

Codat is the universal API for small business data. The real-time connectivity that Codat provides enables software providers and financial institutions to build integrated products for their small business customers.

Codat clients range from lenders to corporate card providers and business forecasting tools and use cases include automatic reconciliation, business dashboarding, and loan decisioning. Codat was founded in 2017 and has offices in London, New York, San Francisco and Sydney.

The company has raised over $60M to date from investors including Tiger Global, PayPal Ventures, Index Ventures and American Express Ventures.

For more information visit www.codat.io

Enquiries:

SPRK Capital
Dominick Peasley
dom@sprkcapital.co.uk

Codat
Gabriel MacSweeney
g.macsweeney@codat.io

Close of Series A funding round and appointment of CEO

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SPRK Capital

SPRK Capital (“SPRK”), the innovative online provider of R&D tax credit funding, today announces the successful closing of its £2.5m Series A funding round. The oversubscribed funding round was led by a consortium of 42 investors, providing a diversified equity base of industry experts.

This equity raise provides SPRK with the operational cashflow to launch and expand its online R&D lending platform in the UK.

SPRK is also pleased to announce the appointment of Dominick Peasley as CEO to drive its growth into the UK market. Dominick joins from Funding Circle where he spearheaded the institutional capital growth of the business and led their participation in Government loan scheme programmes through the pandemic.

Tony Brennan, Chairman of SPRK, “We are grateful to all of our equity backers who have put their faith in SPRK to revolutionise and simplify the world of R&D tax credit financing in the UK.

In appointing Dominick as CEO we have ensured that the right person is in place to drive the business forward, helping SMEs access to the finance they need to grow and innovate.”

Dominick Peasley, CEO of SPRK, “SPRK is uniquely positioned to lead the way in providing SMEs with non-dilutionary capital against their eligible R&D spend.

SPRK’s online lending platform ensures speed and certainty, R&D companies no longer have to wait to access their R&D tax credits. Companies can now borrow against their R&D expenditure as they incur it, revolutionising the cashflow potential for thousands of SMEs.

The UK leads the way in Research and Development and SPRK’s financing solutions can now help SMEs accelerate this growth further, supporting British businesses.”

About SPRK:

SPRK provides SMEs the ability to access cash sooner from their eligible R&D spend using its proprietary online platform, ensuring credit decisions are made swiftly with certainty of funding.

Providing loans of up to £1m, SPRK’s unique proposition is designed to optimise cashflow for borrowers through a non-dilutionary source of capital without charging upfront fees.

SPRK was founded by its Chairman Tony Brennan following the successful launch, build and subsequent sale of Radium Capital in Australia. Radium has become the largest specialty lender for R&D tax credits in Australia in the four years since it launched.

Enquiries:

SPRK Capital
Dominick Peasley, +44 7748 474 952