Damon Walford, chief development officer at ThinCats (pictured above), welcomed guests at the venue’s planetarium and told the audience that the Ashby-de-la Zouch-based company was “starting the next part of its exciting journey”.

(Pictured left to right: John Mould CEO of ThinCats and Ravi Anand, managing director of EFS Capital)

“Our industry is sometimes guilty of making what we do seem complicated,” said Damon.

“The bottom line is that what we do is not rocket science.

“We are on a mission to change the face of SME funding in the UK – and we will only succeed with your help and support.”

ThinCats’ new branding message will be officially unveiled in mid-December.

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Damon was joined on stage by John Mould, CEO of ThinCats, its parent company ESF Capital and Ravi Anand, managing director of ESF Capital.

John and Ravi shared their knowledge of the alternative finance industry, and answered questions regarding the attractions of SME funding, the size of the funding opportunity and how the company has developed to help plug the funding gap.

“ThinCats serves the market both within and beyond traditional funders,” said Ravi.

“We’re challenging the challengers and carving out our own path in the alternative finance landscape.”

John added: “We’ve got a proven track record, and institutional backing with access to diverse pools of funding with more than £200m of committed capital ready to deploy.

“Our company evolution – leading to the new branding and relaunch – adds to this compelling message.”