Funding Circle and Atom bank have announced a new lending partnership that will provide up to £150m of funding to small businesses.

Atom bank is a long-standing and returning investor in the Funding Circle platform. This latest commitment, the third partnership between the two organisations, brings Atom bank’s total lending with Funding Circle to c.£800m.

The new lending partnership will support SMEs through the latest iteration of the government-backed Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) offered by Funding Circle, which aims to help improve access to finance for SMEs.

Atom bank will use Funding Circle’s technology and distribution platform to deploy funds to support UK SMEs and deploy capital.

Lisa Jacobs, CEO at Funding Circle, said: “Access to finance remains crucial for small businesses so we’re delighted to once again be partnering with Atom bank to help more SMEs get the funding they need to win. The Recovery Loan Scheme is an important way for us to be able to say yes to more businesses in line with our medium-term plan, and we’re continuing to extend our track record of delivering robust and attractive loan returns for our investors in spite of the changing economic environment.”

Chris Storey (pictured), chief commercial officer at Atom bank, added: “This partnership forms a key part of our ongoing commitment to UK business owners. We have an ambition to support as many SMEs as possible as we scale the bank, and continuing to leverage Funding Circle’s market leading tech provides us with a fantastic way to deliver on that ambition.

“We recently announced our first full year of operating profit, followed by a successful capital raise and securitisation, so Atom is in a particularly strong position to help those firms who may be struggling to access finance. We have been supporting businesses through the latest iteration of the Recovery Loan Scheme, so we look forward to now helping even more UK SMEs invest and grow as we move into the new year.”