Independent ranking
Best UK business finance for technology and SaaS companies
Independent UK lender rankings from desk research, post-decline options included. FundBiz does not run a credit check. Typical decision times vary by product and lender and are stated in the ranking below.
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Technology and SaaS companies are asset-light and often pre-profit, so the products that fit look different from a typical trading business. Outfund names SaaS and subscription Ltds directly in its own eligibility criteria, YouLend offers revenue-based finance through partner platforms with approval in as little as 24 hours, and Funding Circle remains the realistic mainstream option once a tech company is profitable enough for a standard term loan. Pre-revenue businesses, and those with little recurring revenue, usually fall outside all of these and are better served by equity, grants or an R&D advance. This FundBiz ranking assesses 3 UK lenders for "best uk business finance for technology and saas companies", weighting primarily on revenue and arr-based underwriting fit (30%), decision speed (20%), transparency (20%) (see the full weighted criteria below). Scores are our own desk-research assessment built from the FCA Register, Companies House filings and each lender's published product criteria, not customer reviews and not paid placement. Lenders don't pay for inclusion or rankings. If you send an enquiry, we pass it to a business finance broker, who pays us a fixed fee; you pay nothing.
Source: FundBiz methodology. Editorial by Best Business Loans Ltd (16833937).
Want the sector overview, cash-flow shape and typical decline reasons instead? See technology and saas business finance →
Founder & Managing Director, Muswell Rose, FundBiz
Adam is the founder and managing director of Muswell Rose and a founder of Best Business Loans Ltd, the company behind FundBiz. His background runs through commercial finance, mortgages and fintech, including as managing director of an invoice finance business. He oversees FundBiz's guides and lender reviews.
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Revenue-based finance for online and subscription businesses · £10k to £10m · 24 to 48 hours
Names SaaS and subscription Ltds directly; underwrites on live Stripe and platform data rather than filed accounts.
Our assessment: Decision speed: top tier (24 to 48 hours) · Transparency: average · Eligibility breadth: strong.
Read full Outfund review → -
Embedded MCA / revenue-based finance · Up to £2m · Approval in as little as 24 hours
Revenue-based finance for platform-led recurring revenue; approval in as little as 24 hours, by YouLend's account.
Our assessment: Decision speed: top tier (approval in as little as 24 hours) · Transparency: average · Eligibility breadth: strong.
Read full YouLend review → -
Term loan · £10k to £750k · As little as 5 minutes
The realistic mainstream route once a tech Ltd has an established trading record and clean credit.
Our assessment: Decision speed: strong (as little as 5 minutes) · Transparency: strong · Eligibility breadth: top tier.
Read full Funding Circle review →
Side-by-side comparison
| Lender | Typical rate | Ticket | Decision | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outfund | Flat fee from around 5%, quoted at offer | £10k to £10m | 24 to 48 hours | Shopify, Amazon, Stripe and SaaS Ltds with 6+ months trading |
| YouLend | Fixed fee, repaid as a percentage of sales (quoted per offer) | Up to £2m | Approval in as little as 24 hours | Sellers on Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Etsy or Just Eat |
| Funding Circle | From 6.9% per year | £10k to £750k | As little as 5 minutes | Established Ltds with a trading record and clean credit |
Sources: each lender's own published product pages: Outfund · YouLend · Funding Circle. Figures change; confirm with the lender before you rely on one.
What is the best business finance for a UK technology or SaaS company?
Outfund names SaaS and subscription Ltds directly in its own eligibility criteria and underwrites on live Stripe and platform data. YouLend offers revenue-based finance through partner platforms, with approval in as little as 24 hours. Funding Circle is the realistic mainstream route once a tech company is profitable enough for a standard term loan.
How does revenue-based finance work for a SaaS business?
The lender advances cash against recurring revenue (ARR or MRR) and takes a fixed share of monthly receipts until the fee is repaid, rather than charging compounding interest on a fixed term. This suits a growing subscription book better than balance-sheet-based unsecured lending.
What does technology and SaaS finance cost in the UK?
As recorded in our lender reviews: Outfund: flat fee from around 5%, quoted at offer. YouLend: fixed fee, repaid as a percentage of sales (quoted per offer). Funding Circle: from 6.9% per year. Lenders price each case individually, so confirm the cost on a real quote.
How fast can a tech company get funded?
As recorded in our lender reviews: Outfund: 24 to 48 hours. YouLend: approval in as little as 24 hours. Funding Circle: as little as 5 minutes. Timings are the lenders' own or typical figures and depend on how complete your application is.
What stops a tech company getting finance?
Pre-revenue status, little recurring revenue, a short cash runway and no committed customer contracts are common reasons a specialist tech lender declines; each lender sets its own thresholds. Pre-revenue companies are usually better served by equity, grants or an R&D advance than debt.
How we ranked these
We weight revenue and arr-based underwriting fit (30%), decision speed (20%), transparency (20%), eligibility breadth (15%), post-decline acceptance (15%). Rankings reflect our published editorial methodology, not any commercial arrangement. See our /methodology/ for the full basis.
Methodology weights
Weights specific to "Best UK business finance for technology and SaaS companies":
- Revenue and ARR-based underwriting fit30%
- Decision speed20%
- Transparency20%
- Eligibility breadth15%
- Post-decline acceptance15%
Read the full methodology for how we score and rank the lenders we review.
Also considered
- R&D tax credit advance specialists (see our R&D advance guide)
- Institutional venture debt providers for venture-backed companies
Not for
Pre-revenue companies; businesses with little recurring revenue or a short cash runway.
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