British Patient Capital has reportedly made a £7m investment in Wagestream – a financial benefits provider – as part of a £17.5m funding round.
The investment was alongside other co-investors “including Lombard Odier Investment Managers and existing investor, Northzone.”
With investment from social impact funds including Big Society Capital, Social Tech Trust and Fair By Design, Wagestream was founded in 2018 “to tackle the ‘premium’ low and middle-income households pay for essential services.”
Offered through 1,000 employers in the UK, Spain and United States, its platform already allows three million people – “mainly shift and frontline workers – to access an interactive payslip, choose when to get paid, save for a rainy day, save money on bills and get debt advice.”
Employers currently offering Wagestream “to their employees include Asda, Bupa, Burger King, Hilton and the NHS.”
Wagestream will use the latest funding “to expand that range of services and become a ‘complete financial platform’ for low and middle-income workers.”
New services this year will include “a credit-builder card for those previously denied access to credit, shopping discounts for those impacted by soaring inflation, AI-powered coaching for those priced out of the financial advice sector, and loans for those previously overcharged by credit providers.”
Ian Connatty, Managing Director, Direct & Co-investment, British Patient Capital said:
“Wagestream has built a fintech with social impact at its core. These technology businesses need both capital and supportive investors to help them to scale, grow and be the longer-term solution. We are delighted to support them as they look to growth both domestically and internationally.”
Tom Haywood, Investment Director, British Patient Capital, said:
“Fintech innovation is needed to tackle the challenge of inequity between financial products aimed at higher earners and products for underserved shift and frontline workers who also require those essential services. Not only is it a rapidly growing business, but it is also providing critical services for an underserved and critical group of workers.”
Peter Briffett, Co-Founder and CEO of Wagestream said:
“We believe frontline workers deserve essential services and better financial futures. More than 1,000 employers agree. Together we’re closing the gap, with a platform that helps wherever people are in their financial life – from paying off debt, to saving for the first time, to building a credit file and planning for the future. The result is a better experience at work, better quality of life at home, and business impact for the employer – because healthy teams are loyal, productive teams.”
As noted in the update, British Patient Capital Limited is “a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. Its mission is to enable long-term investment in innovative firms led by ambitious entrepreneurs who want to build large-scale businesses.”
Launched in June 2018, British Patient Capital says it “has more than £3bn of assets under management, investing in venture and venture growth capital to support high growth potential innovative UK businesses in accessing the long-term financing they require to scale up. Find out more here.”
British Business Bank plc and its subsidiary entities “are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. They are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).”
British Patient Capital makes commitments and invests “on its own behalf and on behalf of third-party investors whose investments British Patient Capital manages.”
