Rocking Horse was founded in 2018 as a specialist lender to UK SMEs, providing advance funding against Research & Development (“R&D”) Tax Credits or innovative government grants, through a short term unsecured loan. The product allows innovative SMEs to take an advance against their R&D Tax Credit or grant early, supporting acceleration of growth plans and project spend.

Rocking Horse fills an important gap for growing SMEs investing in innovation and growth that is often excluded by traditional banks and online lending infrastructure. The business was co-founded by CEO Toby Walker and James Davies who have over 40 years combined experience in Banking, and both spent time working in the more mature Australian R&D lending market before setting up the UK business.

This Quilam investment will give the experienced and ambitious management team the capital to build up their loan book alongside working capital to transition the business into its next stage of growth as it seeks to become the UK’s leading SME innovation finance provider.