Over the next three years, the Nordic lender will provide a minimum of £750m to Assetz Capital, enabling the company to help UK-based SMEs with property-backed loans.

This is in addition to the £350m Aros Kapital previously committed, which allowed the P2P lender to provide loans via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

The additional investment will further expand Assetz Capital’s ability to provide loans between £150,000 and £20m to SMEs across a broad range of sectors, including the care and supported living, and SME housebuilding markets.

Following this, Assetz Capital has outlined its intention to increase its annual lending run-rate to £1bn.

To date, Assetz Group has funded £2.5bn of new housing — equating to 16,000 new homes — through its partnerships with retail and institutional investors, supporting 1,110 SMEs across the country.

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Stuart Law, CEO at Assetz Group (pictured above), said: “We’re thrilled to extend our relationship with a long-term partner that matches our passion for supporting SMEs through provision of innovative finance solutions.  

“Like us, Aros Kapital is keen to be at the forefront of providing financing for businesses seeking to address important challenges, including encouraging the use of modern methods of construction for housebuilding to ensure improved environmental sustainability and meet broader market needs. 

“We believe this relationship will be instrumental in ramping up our funding lines and meeting our objective of funding a quarter of all SME new-builds over the long term.”

Gustav Rocklinger, CEO at Aros Kapital, added: “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Assetz Capital following the success we have had over the last two years, providing hundreds of millions of pounds worth of funding for UK SMEs through CBILS. 

“We see this as a long-term partnership based on a mutual desire to support SME growth in the UK and promote innovation in key sectors, such as housebuilding, and are excited to see what we’re able to achieve together going forward.”

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region, Aros Kapital and Assetz Capital have also announced they will make donations to relief organisations out of profits of their continuing partnership.