A bridge to somewhere...

Sprk Capital was founded to provide a better source of capital to companies engaged in R&D. A digital first lender, using technology to provide speed and certainty of finance.

When we initially looked at the R&D funding market it always looked like a slightly grey bridging market - lending to companies as they approached their CT600 tax filing and bridging them through to when HMRC paid out. Bridging loans of up to 3 or 4 (and maybe in extreme 5 or 6) months were the key offering - and frankly in many instances still is.

To be clear, there is a market for this - a substantial one - where borrowers cashflow requirements mean this can be a good solution for them. The current payment delays with HMRC mean that more companies are turning towards this solution as a stopgap. Sprk is also happy to support SMEs in this space.

But with many providers out there charging an upfront % fee to access this financing you should look across providers to ensure that you're accessing a competitive solution.

(Shameless plug here that Sprk Capital does not charge borrowers % fees upfront to access financing!)

But... Technology moves on, financing structures move on and ultimately better solutions are created for SMEs.

Access to better data means that R&D providers should now be able to lend at any point in the financial year against that company's eligible expenditure.

Companies are able to increase the amount of spending that they can drive into their R&D or use less capital for the same amount of R&D.

There no longer needs to be a mad rush at the end of the year to access capital, it can be smoothed throughout the fiscal year. To do this however you need a partner that can understand your business and be there for you. I'm proud that Sprk Capital has been able to help borrower access a Sprk Advance as early as Q1 in their financing year to accelerate their innovation and help them grow.

So maybe, if you're looking at a short term bridging loan, you should consider the following:

"How do I move from a short term facility into a cycle of being able to access funds throughout the year?"

This is where Sprk Capital can help.