Sonovate: products, terms and eligibility

Sonovate is a UK provider of invoice finance. The legal entity named on its site is Sonovate Limited, company number 07500445. It is based in Cardiff. It gives its founding year as 2011.

Sonovate says Richard Prime and Damon Chapple founded it in 2011 to fund recruitment businesses that had to pay contractors before clients paid their invoices; both remain co-CEOs. It says it has widened from funding into payments, timesheets, invoicing, credit control and reporting in one platform. It is headquartered in Cardiff with an office in London, and is registered in England and Wales (company number 07500445).

In its own words on scale:

• Says it has funded £8bn+ since 2014 (figure on its site in October 2026).
• Says it has supported 3,300+ businesses and processed 800,000+ worker payments.
• Says it funds placements in 44 countries.

Everything on this page comes from what Sonovate publishes itself. We show the date we last checked it, and we do not rate or rank lenders.

Sonovate publishes 4 products for UK businesses. The table above gives the amounts and terms as it states them.

Invoice funding

Funding against eligible contract and temporary invoices before clients pay, to cover worker payments and the cost of taking on more work. Sonovate can create invoices from approved timesheets, credit-checks the client, then funds eligible invoices under the agreed arrangement.

Permanent funding

Funding against eligible permanent placement fees while you wait for clients to pay.

Total Funding

Combines permanent, contract and temporary funding with one provider.

Embedded finance

Lets platforms offer Sonovate funding to their own eligible customers through its APIs.

Sonovate says its finance is used for:

• Paying contractors and temporary workers before clients pay
• Funding permanent placement fees
• Taking on larger clients
• International expansion
• Funding recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) work

Sectors and business types it says it funds:

• Recruitment agencies
• Consultancies
• Staffing platforms
• Freelance and labour marketplaces

Sonovate publishes these criteria. Meeting them does not mean an application will be accepted: every lender makes its own decision.

• Recruitment agencies, consultancies and staffing platforms.
• Invoices and placements must be eligible under the agreed arrangement.
• From start-up agencies to established and international businesses.

Sonovate describes its process like this:

1. Tell Sonovate about your business, clients, invoices and plans.
2. Discuss funding options and see the relevant parts of the platform.
3. Agree a funding arrangement and connect your invoicing, through Sonovate or your existing process.
4. Submit approved timesheets or invoices; client credit is checked and eligible invoices are funded.

Every application is subject to status and the lender’s own criteria at the time.

Invoice finance releases cash tied up in unpaid invoices: the provider advances part of an invoice’s value when you raise it and pays the balance, less its charges, when your customer pays. With factoring the provider collects from your customers; with invoice discounting you keep collecting yourself.

Providers assess your customers as much as your own business: who owes you, on what terms and how concentrated the debt is. It suits firms that sell on credit to other businesses, such as recruitment agencies and manufacturers.

Our guide to invoice finance explains the costs, who it suits and how to compare offers.

Points Sonovate publishes that are worth knowing:

• It says pricing depends on the services you choose and your business requirements.
• It assesses your client’s credit information before committing funding to an invoice.
• Its recruitment page lists bad debt protection as standard for eligible invoices.
• You can switch from an existing funding provider; it asks about your current notice period.
• The site carried no FCA regulatory statement when we checked on 15 October 2026.

The pages we checked do not carry a clear regulatory statement, so we describe none. Ask Sonovate how it is regulated.

You can check any firm’s permissions on the FCA’s Financial Services Register, listed in the sources below, before you sign anything.

Protections differ by borrower type and loan size. Most lending to limited companies is not regulated consumer credit, so read the agreement and ask the lender what applies to you.

Other providers of invoice finance with profiles here include Team Factors, TP24 (Tradeplus24) and Triver. Each profile uses that lender’s own published terms.

The full list, grouped by product type, is in our directory of UK business lenders.

Capzy is a credit broker, not a lender, and gets paid by the lender. One application lets your business compare options across lenders, so you can weigh this kind of facility against the alternatives. You can check your funding options with a soft search that does not affect your credit score. A full application to a lender may involve a hard search, and any offer is subject to status and lender criteria.