smartfundit.com has completed a £3.5m round of venture capital funding led by European venture capital firm BayTech Venture Capital.

The firm says the investment is set to accelerate its global expansion and development of its technology finance marketplace.

Commenting on the announcement, Jude Ngu'Ewodo, general partner at BayTech, explains: “We quickly realised that the smartfundit online business model is the much needed answer to the many inefficiencies of conventional technology leasing. With over $1bn in finance requests since inception and a credit approval rate in excess of 80 per cent, the relevance of smartfundit is well established and the company is growing considerably faster than the current market.�

Co-founders of smartfundit.com, Suki Gallagher, COO and Justin Floyd, CEO, add: “We are delighted to have BayTech help us to aggressively grow the company and the technology so we can deliver on our vision of providing competitive, and trusted online finance to a global business community.�

Software vendors and their channel partners use the online finance to source, benchmark and select suitable leasing arrangements on behalf of their customers.

Recent transactions include finance for Harrods e-commerce activities, a multi-million pound SAP project and the addition of two new technology partners to the smartsellit.com partner network: business management and information systems provider COA Solutions, as well as ERP and supply chain software firm, Access Supply Chain Limited. 

Ngu'Ewodo has also joined its board, effective immediately.