Firenze Group Secures £6 Million in Oversubscribed Series A Round to Expand Embedded Finance Platform

Manchester-based fintech innovator Firenze Group Ltd has successfully closed an oversubscribed Series A funding round, raising £6 million. The capital infusion, led by AlbionVC with follow-on participation from existing investors including Outward VC and Form Ventures, is earmarked to accelerate the company's ambitious growth plans, platform expansion, and entry into new markets. This latest round, significantly larger than its previous raises, underscores growing investor confidence in Firenze's mission to democratise Lombard lending.

Founded on May 30, 2023, Firenze Group operates an embedded finance platform that revolutionises access to investment-backed loans. Traditionally, Lombard loans, which allow individuals to borrow against their investment portfolios without liquidating assets, have been largely exclusive to high-net-worth clients with portfolios exceeding £1 million and often required assets to be moved to a private bank's custody. Firenze addresses this by enabling wealth managers, independent financial advisers, and investment platforms to offer these loans, starting from £65,000, without requiring asset transfer. This seamless integration provides clients with liquidity while allowing them to maintain their investment positions, offering flexibility for tax planning, wealth growth, or meeting immediate financial needs.

Firenze's proprietary platform handles the technology for application, underwriting, and monitoring, manages consumer credit compliance, and provides the necessary capital. The company's LinkedIn profile indicates a team of 39 employees, while its latest accounts show 4 employees. Firenze states it plans to more than double its team to support increasing borrower requests and the growing number of wealth managers adopting its Lombard lending solutions. In the last 12 months, Firenze has become a trusted partner for UK firms representing almost £200 billion in Assets under Management (AuM), including prominent wealth managers like Brooks Macdonald and Canaccord Wealth, and investment platforms such as Parmenion and P1. The demand for flexible liquidity solutions has seen the total volume of drawn facilities triple during Q1 alone.

The recently completed Series A round, with an estimated size of £4.9 million according to company filings on April 24, 2026, and an allotment date of April 19, 2026, was reported by several sources as an oversubscribed £6 million round. This marks a substantial increase from Firenze's previous funding activities. The company previously raised £2.8 million in February 2025. Prior to that, it secured smaller rounds in 2024: £64.9k on June 4, 2024, at a valuation of £3.3 million; £246.3k on May 20, 2024, also at a £3.3 million valuation; £190.3k on April 17, 2024, at a £3 million valuation; and £269.3k on March 20, 2024, at a £2.8 million valuation. The significant jump to a £6 million Series A round highlights the rapid institutional adoption of Firenze's technology and strong investor confidence in its growth trajectory.

In terms of leadership, Jay Wilson was appointed as a director on April 3, 2026. LinkedIn suggests he is possibly a Partner at AlbionVC, a FinTech & B2B Data Investor. This potential link aligns with AlbionVC leading the current funding round.

The funding round for Firenze Group fits into a dynamic and evolving UK fintech landscape. The UK remains a leading hub for venture capital in Europe, with Q1 2026 seeing UK startups and scaleups raise $7.8 billion (approximately £6.1 billion), a 60% increase year-on-year and the strongest first quarter since 2022. While AI-led enterprises captured a significant portion of this capital, traditional sectors like fintech continue to lead in deal volume, reflecting broader activity.

Specifically, within the fintech sector, global venture funding to financial technology startups increased by 5% year-over-year in Q1 2026, reaching $12 billion across fewer deals, indicating larger deal sizes. The UK was the second-largest recipient of venture capital globally in Q1 2026, raising $1.2 billion (approximately £940 million) for fintech startups. This follows a period in 2025 where UK fintech investment, despite a global surge, saw a slight dip to $3.6 billion (approximately £2.8 billion) across 534 deals, though the second half of 2025 showed an 11% increase over the first half, suggesting a positive momentum shift into 2026.

The embedded finance sub-sector, in which Firenze operates, is a key growth area within UK fintech. The UK fintech market size is estimated at $21.44 billion (approximately £16.8 billion) in 2026, with embedded finance forecast to supply 20-25% of retail banking sales by 2030 across Europe. This trend reinforces cross-industry partnerships and allows institutions to deliver lending products directly within their ecosystems. Manchester, Firenze's base, is also emerging as a specialised niche within the broader UK fintech ecosystem, which traditionally sees London as its primary magnet for venture capital. Firenze's success in securing a significant Series A round demonstrates the continued investor appetite for innovative embedded finance solutions that address underserved markets within the wealth management sector.