Kikin
“Can an AI-underwritten, ESG-incentivised invoice-financing platform become the go-to working-capital layer for purpose-driven UK SMEs by embedding directly into the accounting software they already use?”
Founded in 2023, Kikin Financial launched as a UK SME invoice-financing and working-capital lender with an ESG angle — rewarding sustainability-focused businesses with fee discounts. The platform differentiates via AI-driven underwriting that ingests real-time accounting and open-banking data, removing the need for manual credit applications. In January 2026 the company secured a $20 million debt facility arranged through private credit marketplace Percent, signalling a move from early bootstrapped origination to scaled warehouse lending. The embedded-finance angle is primarily on the borrower side: deep integrations with accounting software (Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage) via Apideck's unified accounting API allow Kikin to pull financials automatically and fund supplier invoices within hours.