Brighton SME to benefit from NatWest high growth IP-backed loan
A Brighton-based firm, which provides club management software, has secured a £250,000 loan from NatWest to advance and scale-up its business.
LoveAdmin's growth loan has been secured against its intellectual property (IP) - namely, the firm's intangible assets, which could include its software, patents and trademarks.
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In January this year, NatWest became the first UK high street bank to offer IP-backed lending to high growth SMEs, with loans starting from £250,000 up to 50% of the value of a firm's IP.
Claire Jackman, senior commercial manager for NatWest Mid-Market in Sussex, who advised LoveAdmin, which was founded in 2009 by Dave Evans, said: "LoveAdmin ticked all the boxes for lending except they lacked tangible assets.
"Dave made it clear he wasn’t happy with the idea of taking out a Personal Guarantee; but we had just launched the IP Backed Loan, so I suggested that as a solution."
Neil Bellamy, head of technology, media, telecoms and services (TMT) at NatWest, added: "LoveAdmin is a great IP-driven business, and like so many of today’s growth companies, needs a bank that can recognise the value locked up in its intellectual property and other intangibles, rather than one that focuses on tangible assets."
The NatWest loan has been developed in partnership with IP monetisation experts Inngot. It uses valuations provided by Inngot’s online tools to identify and evaluate relevant assets which could be taken as security for loans.
Bellamy added: "I’m also proud that, with Inngot, we have been able to democratise IP-backed lending, which used to be restricted to the world’s biggest companies, and make it affordable for IP-rich SMEs to borrow as little as £250,000.
"We have shown the potential that unlocking value from IP and intangible assets could have for the UK economy, by helping SMEs and growth business to scale and to create new high value jobs and drive UK productivity."
Evans founded LoveAdmin after volunteering for years at his son's grassroots club and seeing the need for sports management software to modernise the way clubs manage admin and payments.
Today, the SME supports a broad range of activity providers, clubs and member organisations and has built a team of dedicated experts across product development, customer success, strategy and marketing.
The £250,000 loan will be used to invest in the innovation and marketing of the completely refreshed LoveAdmin platform, which now features proprietary enterprise-level software.
