UK SME lending has had to be rebuilt outside the major banks since the financial crisis. ThinCats was founded in 2011 as one of the early UK peer-to-peer lenders specifically focused on business loans, originally connecting retail investors with established SMEs needing growth capital or refinancing. The company evolved its funding model over time — moving from retail P2P to institutional capital as the industry matured and the operational complexity of managing large retail investor bases became less attractive than the simplicity of institutional funding. ThinCats now operates as an institutional lender to UK SMEs, providing senior debt finance to established mid-market businesses with revenues typically in the £1-100 million range. The shift from P2P to institutional capital represents a broader maturation of UK alternative lending — the platforms that survived have generally done so by securing stable institutional funding lines that allow them to make consistent lending decisions rather than depending on the inflows and outflows of retail investor money. ThinCats has lent over £1 billion to UK businesses since inception, building a track record in mid-market business lending that distinguishes it from both the consumer-focused P2P lenders and the SME platforms targeting smaller businesses.