How can I use my IP for borrowing?

IP-backed lending could give you the opportunity to raise funds to enable business growth without giving away any shares in your company, leveraging physical collateral or offering personal guarantees.

If you want to use your IP for borrowing then the first step is to clarify exactly what IP the business owns, what IP it has the right to use. and the value of it all.

Who can apply for IP finance?

Companies with IP and intangibles that are genuinely core to their income streams could apply for IP finance:

• Are you based in the UK?
• Do you have registered or unregistered IP rights that are core to your business?
• Can you show existing and future revenue streams from products or services that use your IP?
• Is your business growing by 20% or more a year?
• Can you afford the IP loan repayments?

The main condition all lenders will apply is that your IP needs to be in active use, supporting current sales of your products or services. The types of IP that can be considered vary according to the lender’s policies, but the ones we deal with won’t require you to have granted or pending patents; trade marks, designs and revenue-producing copyright materials can all be acceptable. But, they will require you to be able to answer 'Yes' to all of the above questions.

How does IP finance work?

A lender will take a charge over your IP, securing your loan against your intellectual assets rather than using any physical assets or personal guarantees as collateral. The deal that will then be offered will vary, depending on their chosen lending product and the rules that apply in different countries.

Companies wanting to take advantage of IP finance or IP-based lending will need to be able to show the value of their IP to their day-to-day operations.

What can Inngot do to help?

Inngot’s IP toolkit makes identifying and valuing IP simple and affordable for all businesses and is accepted by leading lenders as the ‘gold standard’ in IP valuation.

Our Hallmarq™ tool works in tandem with our Goldseam® IP profiling tool and Sollomon® IP valuation tool to determine your IP’s suitability as security for a loan.

Our platform can inform negotiations and applications for IP finance.

If you meet the criteria described above, then Inngot can signpost you toward the lenders within our network to begin the preliminary assessment process.