Stenn, a London invoice and trade finance fintech, stopped new lending when its two UK operating companies went into administration on December 4, 2024, after HSBC Innovation Bank asked the High Court to appoint administrators. Businesses that used it now turn to invoice factoring or invoice financing providers, bank trade finance backed by export credit agencies such as UK Export Finance and US EXIM, or, for software companies with recurring revenue, revenue-based financing and term loans.
Key Takeaways
- Jim Tucker, Kristina Kicks and Joshua Dwyer of Interpath were appointed joint administrators of Stenn International Ltd and Stenn Assets UK Ltd on December 4, 2024, by order of the High Court in London (Companies House; Stenn’s website notice).
- The administrators’ January 2025 proposals say HSBC Innovation Bank served default notices on November 29, 2024 and demanded about US$35.3 million under a revolving credit facility, which was not repaid.
- Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported in December 2024 that HSBC had been examining whether some of Stenn’s transactions were genuine; Stenn’s chief executive denied wrongdoing, according to those reports.
- Stenn said it was valued at US$900 million after a US$50 million investment from Centerbridge Partners in 2022 (Bloomberg and Finextra, December 2024).
- As of October 31, 2026, Companies House still lists Stenn International as in administration, and the administrators’ progress report filed in July 2026 says they are still collecting receivables.
- Founderpath’s revenue financing page states, as of October 2026, that it provides funding against current and future accounts receivable, and lists a $1M to $3M ARR company stage and a discount rate from 7%.
What happened to Stenn?
Stenn International Ltd was incorporated in England and Wales on March 13, 2015 and was the group’s main trading and employing company. Together with Stenn Assets UK Ltd it bought invoices from exporters and funded them through two securitisation vehicles financed by banks and other institutions. Both UK companies went into administration on December 4, 2024, and Companies House still lists both as in administration as of October 31, 2026.
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| March 13, 2015 | Stenn International Ltd incorporated in England and Wales | Companies House |
| 2022 | US$50 million from Centerbridge Partners; Stenn said it was valued at US$900 million | Bloomberg; Finextra |
| November 29, 2024 | HSBC Innovation Bank serves default notices and demands about US$35.3 million | Administrators’ proposals |
| December 2, 2024 | HSBC Innovation Bank files administration applications in the High Court | GTR, citing court records |
| December 4, 2024 | Court appoints three administrators from Interpath; new financing stops | Companies House; stenn.com notice |
| December 12, 2024 | Most of Stenn International’s staff are made redundant | Administrators’ proposals; Bloomberg |
| July 10, 2025 | The FRC opens investigations into the audits of both companies by Azets and Deloitte | FRC |
| July 15, 2026 | Latest administrators’ progress report filed; collection of receivables continues | Companies House |
Why did Stenn go into administration?
The administrators’ statement of proposals, filed at Companies House on January 23, 2025, gives the formal trigger. HSBC Innovation Bank, formerly Silicon Valley Bank’s UK arm, had lent to Stenn Assets UK under a revolving credit facility guaranteed by Stenn International. On November 29, 2024 it served default notices and demanded about US$35.3 million. Neither the borrower nor the guarantors repaid, so the bank made an urgent application to the court, which appointed the administrators on December 4. The proposals also record that Stenn International had accumulated operating losses of about US$74 million by the end of 2023.
Press reports went further on why the bank acted. Bloomberg reported on December 13, 2024, citing people familiar with the matter, that HSBC had become concerned that Stenn’s relationships with large customers in Taiwan and Japan may not have been legitimate. The Financial Times, as reported by Finextra, said lenders began probing potentially suspicious transactions after Stenn was mentioned in passing in a US criminal indictment. At the time, a Stenn spokesperson told the startup publication Sifted that the company was “actively defending” the action and attributed it to “sudden action by an investor”, GTR reported, and chief executive Greg Karpovsky told the FT he denied any wrongdoing, Bloomberg reported.
On July 10, 2025 the Financial Reporting Council opened investigations into the statutory audits of Stenn Assets UK and Stenn International by Azets and Deloitte. The FRC says opening an investigation does not mean it has made, or will make, any finding of a breach. We found no published court or regulator finding on the cause of the collapse as of October 31, 2026.
Is Stenn still lending in 2026?
No. The notice on stenn.com, read on October 31, 2026, says the joint administrators “will not be seeking to fulfil additional lending requests”, and their proposals say they suspended new invoice financing and kept the companies trading only to collect what buyers owe. The site’s menu still lists invoice financing, revenue-based financing and SaaS funding above that notice, but the notice is the current position.
The administrators’ progress report filed on July 15, 2026 covers the period to June 3, 2026. It says financed receivables through the two securitisation vehicles exceeded US$1 billion on December 4, 2024, that collection is continuing, and that unsecured creditors may receive a dividend on current estimates. GTR described the group in October 2026 as having collapsed owing some US$1 billion to creditors.
If you were a Stenn seller or a buyer paying Stenn invoices, follow the notice rather than any new contact: it tells buyers to keep paying in the usual way, says the administrators wrote to buyers and sellers of Stenn Assets Funding receivables with next steps on March 31, 2025, says receivables of Stenn Direct Funding moved to a new servicer, Atradius Collections, from December 20, 2024, and warns that the only official update channels are stenn.com and Interpath’s insolvency portal.
What did Stenn offer?
The administrators describe the core business as invoice discounting; in the terms of the table below it worked like factoring, because Stenn bought the invoices and collected from the buyer. A seller ships goods to a buyer on payment terms, for example 90 or 120 days, then sells that invoice to a factor such as Stenn at a discount. The seller gets most of the invoice value at once, and the factor collects the full amount from the buyer when it falls due. Stenn bought invoices from sellers based in emerging markets and funded them through securitisation vehicles. According to the proposals, the companies’ books showed a total receivable of US$978 million on November 29, 2024, and the second vehicle, Stenn Direct Funding, held receivables of US$119 million.
Stenn also had a US subsidiary, Stenn Assets USA, which the proposals say operated a revenue-based financing business, and its website marketed funding for eCommerce and SaaS businesses. That is the overlap with Founderpath: both offered software companies capital repaid from revenue, though trade invoices were Stenn’s main business.
What are the best alternatives to Stenn?
There is no single replacement, because Stenn served two kinds of company. Exporters and importers that financed trade invoices need another invoice or trade finance provider. Software companies that used its revenue-based financing need capital sized on recurring revenue. The table sorts the main options by what you have to finance.
| Option | How it works | Fits | Source, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice factoring | You sell unpaid invoices to a factor, which advances most of the value, usually 80% to 90%, and collects from your customer | B2B sellers with creditworthy customers on payment terms | Xero; BILL |
| Invoice financing (invoice discounting) | You borrow against unpaid invoices and keep collecting from your customers yourself; Xero notes your customers need not know about it | Sellers who want to keep the customer relationship | Xero; BILL |
| Export credit agency backed bank lines | UK Export Finance’s General Export Facility gives banks partial guarantees on trade loans and letter of credit lines of up to around £25 million; US EXIM gives lenders a 90% guarantee on export working capital loans | UK and US exporters that meet each agency’s criteria | UK Export Finance; EXIM |
| Revenue financing and term loans | Capital sized on recurring revenue and repaid monthly, with no equity sold | Software companies with recurring revenue | Founderpath revenue financing; other providers compared |
For how factoring fees, recourse and notice to your customers work in practice, see our invoice factoring guide. For software companies, the revenue-based financing companies comparison sets other providers’ published terms side by side.
What to check before you move to a new provider
Stenn’s sellers lost their funding line when one of Stenn’s own lenders called in its loan and the companies went into administration. It is worth asking any new provider how it is funded itself, and reading the terms that let it change the deal. Steve Benson, who funded Badger Maps with loans from three different debt providers, listed the terms he checks in his Founderpath talk: minimum cash balances, EBITDA or MRR covenants, the right to demand faster repayment, early repayment penalties and limits on how you spend the money. He also recommends converting every offer to an APR to compare them.
Can they demand you pay them back faster for any reason? … Providers love to give you an umbrella when it’s not raining and take away the umbrella once it starts raining.
Steve Benson, founder and CEO, Badger Maps. Watch at 27:09
How Founderpath differs from Stenn
Stenn financed individual trade invoices, and the buyer on each invoice paid it back. Founderpath finances software companies against their recurring revenue, and the company repays it. Its revenue financing page states, as of October 2026, that Founderpath “provides funding against your current and future accounts receivable”, that the product is “sometimes called Revenue Financing or Factoring”, and that repayment “is a fixed monthly amount, similar to a standard amortizing loan.”
| Stenn (before December 2024) | Founderpath (as of October 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| What is financed | Trade invoices bought at a discount, mainly from sellers in emerging markets; a smaller US revenue-based financing business | Current and future accounts receivable of software companies |
| Who repays | The buyer pays the invoice to the factor when it falls due | The company repays a fixed monthly amount |
| Company stage | Not stated in the sources reviewed | $1M to $3M ARR for revenue financing; $3M+ revenue for term loans |
| Published cost | Not found in the sources reviewed | Discount rate from 7% (revenue financing); interest from 15% (term loans) |
| Equity and guarantees | Not stated in the sources reviewed | No equity or warrants; no full personal guarantee; a lien on business assets only |
An earlier version of this page said Founderpath requires no personal guarantee or collateral. The revenue financing page says it takes a lien on business assets and no full personal guarantee, so that line is corrected. For how revenue-based financing works in general, see the revenue-based financing guide.
Funding growth without giving up equity
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Stenn alternatives FAQ
What happened to Stenn?
Stenn’s two UK operating companies, Stenn International Ltd and Stenn Assets UK Ltd, went into administration on December 4, 2024, after HSBC Innovation Bank applied to the High Court in London. Three insolvency practitioners from Interpath were appointed joint administrators, new financing stopped and most staff were made redundant on December 12, 2024.
Is Stenn still operating?
Not as a lender. As of October 31, 2026, Companies House lists both UK companies as in administration, and the administrators’ notice on stenn.com says they will not fulfil additional lending requests. They are still collecting receivables owed to the securitisation vehicles.
Why did HSBC put Stenn into administration?
The administrators’ proposals say HSBC Innovation Bank served default notices on November 29, 2024 and demanded about US$35.3 million under a revolving credit facility, which was not repaid. Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported that HSBC had been examining whether some of Stenn’s transactions were genuine; Stenn’s chief executive denied wrongdoing.
Who are Stenn’s administrators?
Jim Tucker, Kristina Kicks and Joshua Dwyer of Interpath were appointed joint administrators of Stenn International Ltd and Stenn Assets UK Ltd on December 4, 2024. Stenn’s website and Interpath’s insolvency portal are the only official channels for updates, according to the notice on stenn.com.
I was a Stenn customer or I pay Stenn invoices. What should I do?
Follow the administrators’ notice on stenn.com. It tells buyers to keep paying in the usual way, says the administrators wrote to buyers and sellers of Stenn Assets Funding receivables with next steps on March 31, 2025, says receivables of Stenn Direct Funding moved to Atradius Collections as servicer from December 20, 2024, lists separate Interpath contacts for sellers, buyers and creditors, and warns about scams and clone websites.
What are the best alternatives to Stenn for trade credit?
For trade invoices, the main options are invoice factoring, invoice financing and bank trade finance lines backed by an export credit agency, such as UK Export Finance’s General Export Facility or US EXIM’s working capital loan guarantee. Software companies with recurring revenue usually look at revenue-based financing or term loans instead.
Was Stenn a unicorn?
Not quite. Stenn said it was valued at US$900 million after a US$50 million investment from Centerbridge Partners in 2022, as reported by Bloomberg and Finextra in December 2024.
Is Founderpath an alternative to Stenn?
For software companies, yes. Founderpath finances software companies against recurring revenue rather than individual trade invoices: its revenue financing page lists, as of October 2026, a $1M to $3M ARR stage, a discount rate from 7%, fixed monthly repayments and no equity or warrants. Exporters financing trade invoices need an invoice or trade finance provider instead.
Sources and method
We checked every fact on this page on October 31, 2026. Stenn’s status, dates and the formal cause come from Companies House records and the administrators’ statutory filings, cross-checked against the administrators’ notice on stenn.com and reporting by GTR, Bloomberg and Finextra. Reasons reported by the press are attributed to the outlet that reported them, and no finding of wrongdoing is stated because none had been published. Founderpath’s terms are quoted from its own product pages and dated, because they are the company’s own statements. An earlier version of this page presented Stenn as a live option, said it was founded in 2016 (Companies House shows 2015), listed purchase order and inventory financing that we could not source, described its growth with figures we could not trace, and said Founderpath required no collateral; those claims are removed or corrected.
- Notice from the joint administrators, stenn.com, read October 31, 2026
- Stenn International Ltd (09488169) insolvency record and filing history, including the statement of proposals (filed January 23, 2025) and the progress report (filed July 15, 2026), Companies House
- Stenn Assets UK Ltd (09964011) insolvency record, Companies House
- HSBC files to place Stenn into administration, GTR, December 4, 2024; UK trade finance co denies Stenn unit’s fake invoice claims, GTR, October 28, 2026
- HSBC raised fraud alarm that sparked collapse of fintech Stenn and HSBC sent fintech Stenn into administration over fears about client list, Bloomberg, republished by The Business Times, December 11 and 13, 2024
- Suspicious transactions led to collapse of UK fintech Stenn, Finextra, citing the Financial Times, December 12, 2024
- Investigation regarding the audits of Stenn by Azets and Deloitte, Financial Reporting Council, July 10, 2025
- Invoice factoring guide, Xero, and What is invoice factoring, BILL, read October 31, 2026
- General Export Facility, UK Export Finance (page updated June 23, 2026), and Working capital loan guarantee, Export-Import Bank of the United States, read October 31, 2026
- Founderpath revenue financing and term loans pages, read October 31, 2026
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