Bristol-based lawyers at Osborne Clarke have advised Fintern on its consumer arm Abound, a personal lending start-up that uses artificial intelligence and open banking to provide more accurate and affordable loans, as it raises up to £500 million to turbocharge its growth.  

Abound's new investment comprises both debt financing with backers including Citibank and Waterfall Asset Management, and a new equity round with participation from Hambro Perks, K3 Ventures and GSR Ventures. The funding will be used to accelerate its expansion and develop its B2B offering.

London headquartered fintech Abound has created a way to provide borrowers with better interest rates by looking at their complete financial picture, through open banking and artificial intelligence, rather than using traditional credit scores. Since its inception in 2020, Abound has been growing 30 per cent month-on-month and has served over 150,000 customers.

In the UK, it's estimated that over 15 million people struggle to borrow for unexpected costs and due to poor credit scores, many have to accept unacceptably high or unrealistic interest rates. Abound continues to offer better rates than major lenders through its unique service that can instantly 'x-ray' people's finances.

The Osborne Clarke team assisting Fintern was led by finance and banking partner Tom Bussy and included senior associate Joe Roberts and associate David Morgan, all of whom are based in the Bristol office.

Additional support was provided by Erika Jupe (tax), Michael Lewis and Claudia Kasinou (regulatory), and James Taylor and Oli Jacquelin (corporate). Partner Mark Wesker and Katharine Ramsay also advised on corporate restructuring matters and James Taylor, Adam Turner and Oli Jacquelin advised on equity raise.

Tom Bussy said: "Fintern is on an exciting growth journey and we have been delighted to advise them on what was a series of challenging but interesting transactions involving multiple parties. We look forward to working with Fintern on future projects."

Osborne Clarke's international financial services sector team advises clients ranging from start-ups, scale-ups/growth businesses and FinTech unicorns to challenger banks, payments, retail and consumer finance, platforms, large corporates and institutions as well as lenders, investors and industry bodies and regulators.