Newcastle-based fintech startup Noggin HQ has raised £2.3 million in seed funding to expand its cashflow-based alternative credit scoring platform for UK lenders.
The round was led by Blackfinch Ventures, with continued backing from Oxford Capital and Bethnal Green Ventures, alongside angel investors including former TotallyMoney CEO Alastair Douglas. The funding comes alongside an important regulatory milestone: Noggin HQ has received credit referencing authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The combination of fresh capital and regulatory approval allows Noggin HQ to provide permissioned banking transaction data to FCA-authorised lenders and develop new credit assessment tools based on customers’ actual cashflow.
Rethinking Traditional Credit Scoring
Traditional credit scoring largely relies on historical information contained within credit files. For consumers with limited, fragmented, or outdated credit histories, that approach can make it difficult to demonstrate their current financial circumstances.
Noggin HQ is taking a different approach by using permissioned open banking data to provide lenders with a more current picture of an individual’s income, spending, affordability, and repayment capacity.
The company says its technology is designed to help lenders identify creditworthy consumers who may otherwise be overlooked by conventional credit scoring models.
This can include people with short UK credit histories, limited formal borrowing records, or consumers who have spent significant periods living outside the UK.
Using Open Banking for Credit Decisions
Noggin HQ analyses permissioned banking transaction data to generate indicators that lenders can use when assessing affordability and creditworthiness.
Rather than replacing traditional credit information entirely, the company’s approach is intended to provide lenders with additional, more up-to-date information when making credit decisions.
The startup has already completed pilots with lenders and plans to use the new funding to move from early testing toward broader commercial adoption.
The development comes as open banking continues to create opportunities for fintech companies to provide lenders with richer financial data and alternative methods of assessing consumers.
FCA Authorisation Marks Key Milestone
The company’s FCA credit reference agency authorisation is particularly significant because it gives Noggin HQ the regulatory foundation required to operate within the UK’s credit information infrastructure.
Only a limited number of companies have obtained authorisation to operate as credit reference agencies in the UK over the past decade, making the approval an important milestone for the Newcastle-based startup.
For Noggin HQ, the authorisation also strengthens its proposition to lenders by allowing it to provide permissioned financial information within a regulated credit-reference framework.
Who Are the Investors?
The £2.3 million seed round was led by Blackfinch Ventures, with continued participation from Oxford Capital and Bethnal Green Ventures.
The round also included domain-specific angel investors such as Alastair Douglas, the former CEO of TotallyMoney.
Noggin HQ previously raised £710,000 in pre-seed funding, led by Oxford Capital, with Bethnal Green Ventures also participating.
The investors point to the combination of market demand, early lender engagement, and Noggin HQ’s regulatory progress as important factors behind the latest investment.
“Credit scoring is broken because it only looks backwards, judging people on a patchy record of their past.”
Alastair Douglas, angel investor and former CEO of TotallyMoney
Douglas argues that open banking can give lenders access to real-time financial information that provides a clearer picture of what consumers can actually afford.
“Open banking turns that on its head: real-time data that shows what someone can actually afford today, making decisions quicker, fairer and more accurate.”
Alastair Douglas, angel investor and former CEO of TotallyMoney
Oxford Capital also highlighted the size of the opportunity in consumer credit and the importance of Noggin HQ’s regulatory progress.
“Noggin HQ is tackling a large and persistent problem in consumer credit: too many people are judged on incomplete or outdated data.”
David Mott, Founder Partner at Oxford Capital
Blackfinch Ventures similarly sees the company’s alternative data approach as an opportunity to improve credit decisioning while expanding access to financial services.
“Its approach helps credit assessment evolve beyond traditional models by using richer, more up-to-date data to build a clearer picture of borrowers.”
Hugh Bartlett, Principal at Blackfinch Ventures
Bethnal Green Ventures has backed Noggin HQ since its accelerator programme in 2021 and continues to support the company as it moves toward wider commercial adoption.
“Eva and Laura are great representatives of a new generation of female founders who are looking to deliver positive social impact as they grow their business.”
Paul Miller, Managing Director at Bethnal Green Ventures
Founder Perspective
Noggin HQ was founded by childhood friends Evangeline Atkinson and Laura Mills, who were inspired by their own experiences of being declined for credit despite having steady employment and regularly paying their bills.
That experience led the founders to investigate how traditional credit systems can overlook consumers whose financial circumstances are not adequately reflected in their credit files.
The founders believe permissioned banking data can provide lenders with a more complete and current view of a consumer’s financial position.
“The UK credit market has changed. Consumers earn, spend and borrow in more complex ways than ever before, but much of the credit referencing infrastructure still reflects an older economy.”
Evangeline Atkinson, Co-founder at Noggin HQ
With its FCA authorisation now in place, the company is looking to use its new funding to expand its technology and support more nuanced credit assessments for consumers who have historically been underserved by traditional models.
The Bigger Picture
Noggin HQ sits at the intersection of open banking, alternative credit scoring, and consumer lending infrastructure.
As lenders look for ways to make faster and more informed decisions, access to real-time financial information could become an increasingly important complement to traditional credit files.
The company’s combination of FCA authorisation, open-banking data, and cashflow-based scoring gives it an opportunity to become part of the infrastructure lenders use to assess consumers.
The next stage will be converting its early lender pilots into broader commercial relationships and demonstrating that cashflow data can improve credit decisions while maintaining appropriate consumer protections.
For the UK’s fintech ecosystem, the funding also highlights the growing activity outside London, with Noggin HQ building its credit infrastructure business from Newcastle and attracting backing from established UK fintech investors.
About Noggin HQ
Noggin HQ is a Newcastle-based fintech developing alternative credit-scoring and credit-reference technology using permissioned banking transaction data. The company aims to help FCA-authorised lenders make more informed credit decisions by incorporating current cashflow and affordability information alongside traditional credit data.
