The British fintech firm 9fin, which specialises in market intelligence applied to credit, announced on 31 March that it had raised $170m in a Series C funding round, valuing the company at $1.3bn. The round was led by HarbourVest Partners, with participation from CPP Investments – already a client of the platform – as well as Highland Europe, Spark Capital, Redalpine and Seedcamp.
Founded in London in 2016 by Steven Hunter and Hussam El-Sheikh, 9fin is targeting a market estimated at $145trn: the debt markets, which its CEO believes are still largely under-equipped in terms of technology. “Professionals making multi-billion-dollar decisions still rely on fragmented data, manual processes and systems that were never designed for the growing complexity and interconnectedness of modern credit markets,” says Steven Hunter.
A unique, real-time view
The company offers a platform that combines proprietary data, real-time analysis and tools based on artificial intelligence. The aim is to provide a unified view of the credit markets, at a time when the boundaries between private debt, leveraged finance and restructuring are becoming increasingly blurred in a more volatile macroeconomic environment. “There is a clear need in the market: to have a single, real-time view of credit across geographies, products and market conditions,” adds the executive.
9fin now boasts over 300 clients, including banks, asset management firms and international law firms. The company highlights the rapid uptake of its tools, with some credit professionals using them as their primary working interface. This momentum has resulted in several consecutive years of 100% growth in its annual recurring revenue, as well as a high retention rate.
The fundraising round is intended to enable the company to accelerate progress in two key areas. Firstly, the deeper integration of artificial intelligence directly into the core of its analytical processes, with the aim of transforming working methods rather than merely optimising them. Secondly, the strengthening of its proprietary database, which is considered a key competitive advantage in a sector where the quality and depth of information are crucial.
The company also intends to continue its geographical expansion, particularly in the United States, which has become its fastest-growing market over the past three years. 9fin plans to strengthen its sales teams and local presence there in order to meet the growing demand from major credit investors.
“A rare combination”
As for existing investors, the Luxembourg-based firm Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital, which acquired a stake during the Series A round in 2021, did not participate in this latest round, as its fund is now closed. It states that it maintained its stake on a pro-rata basis during previous rounds and acknowledges that dilution occurred as a result of this transaction. “This investment alone should enable us to repay our entire fund,” the fund emphasises. However, “we invested in 9fin from the Series A round onwards because we identified a founding team possessing a rare combination of in-depth industry expertise and genuine technological ambition. Seeing them achieve unicorn status is a strong demonstration of IVC’s ability to identify and support world-class companies from their very earliest stages. We look forward to what comes next,” comments 
Against a backdrop of structural transformation in the credit markets and the rise of artificial intelligence technologies, 9fin now aims to establish itself as the central intelligence layer of this ecosystem. “The debt markets are too vast, too vital and too complex to function with fragmented systems,” concludes Steven Hunter.
