The British Business Bank has invested $20 million in 9fin as part of a $170 million Series C funding round, giving the London-based company unicorn status and strengthening the UK’s position as a global fintech hub.
The round was led by HarbourVest, with participation from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and existing backers including Redalpine, Highland Europe, Spark Capital and Seedcamp. The British Business Bank’s investment was made in collaboration with Redalpine, reflecting its growing focus on supporting later scale-ups.
Founded in 2016, 9fin has developed an AI-native intelligence platform designed for professionals operating in the credit and debt markets, one of the largest asset classes worldwide.
The platform aggregates and analyzes data traditionally distributed across emails, PDFs and private data rooms, providing users with real-time insights, analytics and document extraction tools. This allows banks, asset managers, law firms and consultants to identify opportunities and manage risks more efficiently within a single interface.
With more than 300 institutional customers worldwide and several years of 100 percent annual recurring revenue growth, 9fin has established itself as a fast-growing player in financial data and analytics.
The new funding will be used to further develop 9fin’s AI capabilities, expand its proprietary data set and accelerate growth in the United States, a key market for lending and leveraged finance activities.
CEO Steven Hunter said the company’s goal is to become a major platform for credit professionals.
“AI will redefine credit markets, but only if it is based on proprietary data and embedded in the way professionals actually work,” he said. “Our goal is to create the only platform they need.”
The investment marks another milestone for the British Business Bank’s equity capital programs, which have now backed 27 British unicorns, representing around 64 percent of the country’s current billion-dollar start-ups.
Leandros Kalisperas, the bank’s chief investment officer, said improved access to late-stage capital was crucial to ensuring UK companies can scale while maintaining their domestic base.
“Investments like this help our most innovative companies realize their commercial potential and compete globally,” he said.
George Mills, the bank’s investment director, added that 9fin is an example of the strength of UK fintechs, particularly in applying AI to complex financial markets.
The deal underlines the continued momentum in the UK fintech sector, which remains one of the most dynamic in Europe.
By combining artificial intelligence with rich financial data sets, companies like 9fin are changing the way markets work and improving transparency, efficiency and decision-making across the credit landscape.
As global demand for data-driven financial tools grows, platforms that can integrate AI with high-quality proprietary data are expected to play an increasingly central role.
Achieving unicorn status represents a significant step for 9fin, but the focus now shifts to scaling internationally and maintaining its growth trajectory in a competitive and rapidly evolving market.
For the UK, the investment highlights the importance of sustained support for high-growth technology companies to ensure domestically developed innovations can lead to global success.
