ANNA & YouLend team up to offer business funding in as little as 24 hours

If you've ever sat staring at your cash flow thinking, "I know the money's coming, but I’m stuck until it arrives", this one's for you.

We've teamed up with YouLend, an embedded finance provider, to offer funding straight from the ANNA app. No finding a separate lender, no weeks of waiting to hear back. If you're eligible, the cash is there – usually within 24 hours.

We know you wanted this service, not only because you've repeatedly asked us for it, but also because 1,531 ANNA customers were already using YouLend with a total funding volume of £44.8m (£29,300 per business on average) as part of their working capital solutions.

So we listened, we got busy behind the scenes, and we've now embedded this service for ANNA customers to make accessing finances even easier.

Here's everything you need to know…

In this post, we'll cover:

• What this funding actually is (and why it's not the same as a conventional loan)
• How it settles
• How it's different from going to a bank
• What business owners are actually using it for
• Why now – and why you're not imagining that cash flow feels tighter than usual
• How to check if you're eligible

So what is this way of getting access to capital, exactly?

Think of it as an advance on money you've basically already earned.

Eligible small businesses and sole traders can now access up to 2 months' worth of revenue – from marketplace sales and payment provider flows from platforms such as eBay, Just Eat, Teya and Dojo – to fund growth today, instead of waiting weeks for it to land. YouLend can look at that trading history and advance you up to two months' worth, usually within 24 hours.

And how does it settle?

It settles automatically as a small share of your revenue comes in – so if you have a quiet week, less is settled that week. No fixed monthly payment sitting there whether you've had a good month or a shocker.

It's officially called a "merchant cash advance" or "revenue-based funding" if you want the technical term for it. In practice, it means accessing money tied up in revenue you're already generating without the usual wait.

Why is this different from a bank loan?

A few reasons:

• No lengthy application. If you're eligible, ANNA already knows because it can see your trading history – you're not filling out forms from scratch.
• No long wait for a decision. Traditional loan applications can drag on for weeks. These funds usually land in your account within 24 hours. YouLend claims that 80% of applications are successful.
• Settlement flexes with your sales. Instead of a fixed amount every month regardless of how business is going, a percentage of revenue is settled as it comes in. So it adjusts automatically for slow days, quiet seasons, and the general unpredictability of running a small business.

What are people actually using it for?

However you like, but the most common things we're seeing are:

• Stocking up on inventory before a busy season hits
• Covering payroll during a slower month
• Taking on a new site, or refurbishing an existing shop or restaurant
• Improving cash-flow or refinancing existing debt

Why now?

Because cash flow has genuinely become harder for small businesses lately, and it's not just a feeling. Analysis from the Credit Protection Association found 42% of small firms were paid late in the past year – that's more than double the rate from summer 2024. At the same time, appetite for traditional funding has dropped to a record low of 40%, down from 63% back in 2023. People aren't applying for loans less because they need money less, they're applying less because the process is slow and the odds aren’t always great.

This is part of a bigger shift, too, not just an ANNA thing. The British Business Bank's own research found smaller businesses increasingly turning to flexible finance to manage cash flow. So more small businesses are now choosing revenue-based funding over loans that are slower to arrive and harder to get approved for. That trend was already well underway before we partnered with YouLend. 

As of today, 1,531 ANNA customers had already signed up to use YouLend independently (with £44.8m total funding), which tells you there was real demand here before we made it official.

How do I know if I'm eligible?

• Eligible customers are pre-qualified within the ANNA app based on their trading history, then navigated through the application flow
• Funding is calculated from revenue a business is already generating - from marketplace sales and payment provider flows from platforms such as eBay, Just Eat, Teya, Dojo, and other e-commerce players, or regular payments against invoices - rather than assets or credit history alone
• YouLend claims that 80% of pre-qualified customers get approved
• YouLend provides the funding; eligibility criteria apply

As our Co-CEO Boris put it: "Most small businesses aren't short on revenue, they're short on timing. The money's coming, it's just not here yet. This isn't about waiting for a bank to say yes to a loan – with YouLend it's about putting the revenue your business is already generating to work today, instead of waiting for it to land next week. We built ANNA to get admin out of people's way, and waiting for your own money to arrive shouldn't be one more thing on that list."

Funding is provided by YouLend, not ANNA. Eligibility criteria apply – check the app to see if you qualify.