Allica Bank targets £1bn SME finance with Kriya acquisition

Allica Bank has today announced the acquisition of Kriya, the award-winning SME lending fintech specialising in SME working capital and embedded finance.

The move strengthens Allica’s SME lending proposition and sees the UK’s fastest-ever growing fintech move into the embedded payments market for the first time.

The two businesses are a strong strategic fit, bringing together complementary strengths across lending and payments, with a shared passion for using technology to transform the established SME market and leadership who’ve known each other for a long time.

Allica is broadening its working capital and embedded finance proposition at a time when confidence among SMEs seeking funding has fallen from 56% to 31% since 2019, while only one in ten SMEs now have access to bank overdrafts or traditional loans, the lowest recorded level since 2019.

Since first opening its doors to lending in 2020, Allica’s impressive growth means its total outstanding lending to SMEs has now reached £3.5 billion.

With the Kriya acquisition, Allica is targeting advancing an initial £1 billion of working capital finance to SMEs over the next three years.

The acquisition accelerates Allica’s drive to penetrate 10% of the established SME finance market by the end of 2028, replacing the legacy high street banks who have been in retreat from serving this important segment that makes up a third of the UK economy.

Kriya is Allica’s third acquisition, following the successful purchase and integration of AIB’s GB SME lending customers in 2021 and bridging finance specialist Tuscan Capital in 2024.

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